Update: Destruction
by BanjoMano
Summary: Every few years, a Crafter along with an Update is thrust upon the unforgiving world of Minecraftia. When the next update is released for 1.14, a dark plot is discovered. Can this new Crafter - Alex - save the world from this darkness - or will she fall against the tide that has threatened Minecraftia since time immemorial? On second thought, don't answer that.
1. The Block

I opened my eyes. The world around me... where am I?

Unlike that God awful void I was in, the scenery around me was very... dark. Stone surrounded me, along with other types of... blocks? There was a white stone flecked with black, a red stone flecked with gray... and a mushroom. Realizing how hungry I was, I tried to chomp on that mushroom. However, I somehow couldn't do it. Curses!

Defeated, I stretched out onto the stone. What time we it? It must have been night when I got out...

The world around me started to fade to black, but something lingered at the edge of my mind. Who am I? Why can't that mushroom fit into my mouth? What is that strange block that has arrows and glowing dots on it?

Ah, yes, I thought. The block. It radiated such power that I could feel it coursing through my bones. I stood up and brushed of the dust on my jeans and touched the block.

The world became fuzzy. I let loose a scream as dark energy poured out of my eyes, and the entire world became white. When I could see again, I was floating in midair, and I felt... strong. I raised my hands, and they crackled with lightning. I blasted off the top of the cave in a blinding explosion of... energy? I grinned wildly and knew who I was.

Herobrine.

**This is the Prologue to the story. Skip to chapter 3 to read the first chapter, 'The Beginning of the End'.**


	2. Setting things up

**Banjo Note: Feel the breeze of new life in your ears? The sound of animals wandering in a lush, green forest, searching for food in the smallest places one wouldn't see by eye. Imagine you lived here, a paradise, where no danger can harm you in the daylight **

**Then night comes. Creatures of the undead rise and you have to fight your way through hordes and hordes of those monsters. This is what Minecraftia's lifestyle is.**

**However, every few years, a hero that takes the name of 'Crafter' arrives and helps you defend your home. The role of the Crafters is to use their powers over simple people to save them.**

**Yes, that is the premise of this story. A dark plot has been discovered in this world. A crafter is teaming up with new Mobs and enemies from the new update to rule the world.**

**Imagine you are the person that shall stop this - but you have no idea how to do anything in this world that you are thrust upon. This is the job that Alex has been thrust upon. Can she fix this problem before it's too late?**

**Just a little prophecy:**

_And the Eldest Guardian, with all his might_

_Shall flood this world, wash away the light_


	3. The Beginning of the End

My name is Notch. I am what you call a Crafter – a person who has powers over the normal people, who are called Villagers. You could say that I am the first of 13 Crafters, because I am. A Crafter is spawned every 10 years, along with what we call an 'Update', which adds new things to the world of Minecraftia.

So let me tell you how I got stuck in a prophet's crypt, shall I?

_**-=Update Arc=-**_

_**_When Notch is attacked by a mysterious stranger in the Crypt of the Fifth, he discovers a prophecy that ordain the end of his world, with the Crafter with unlimited power part of it somehow. Meanwhile, Alex, the 14th_ crafter, is spawned into existence.**_

* * *

Silence. That's one of the many boring things about this underground Nether-hole. The sound of my iron boots stepping on the stone brick floor echoed throughout this crypt, giving it a creepy feel to the ancient tunnel. Another thing? Who only uses stone bricks? Like, at least use some cracked bricks and add some cobble. Talk about lazy!

Why am I, the great Notch, stuck in this ugly, piece of shit place? Well, when a disturbance in the nearby fishing village of Caremu, it took my attention. See, I've been researching a certain... artefacts. No one knows what they are or where they come from, but these diamonds somehow obtained powers reflected in their colours. So far, I only have discovered the location of one – but only vaguely.

So far, no diamonds have been seen in this crypt under the ocean. Only stone bricks, stairs and the occasional cobweb. I placed a torch on the wall to my left, and nearly walked straight into a pit of endermen. Quickly stepping back, I rummaged in my backpack to find what I needed.

Ah, yes.

The Carved Pumpkin.

Shoving it on my head, I crouched to the ledge and started to build a bridge. Looking up at the other side, I saw a red block flashing white.

With a yell, I ducked behind a wall as the TNT blew up the bridge. I was flung into a wide room, containing nothing but a single chest. Wary, I looked behind me to spot any intruders. When I was positive no one was in this room, I opened the chest.

Inside was a single book. The Eldest Prophecy. With trembling hands for some reason, I grabbed the old leather cover, blew a centuries worth of dust off of it. Shakily yet carefully, I opened it up.

I'd really like to tell you that the book had a golden glow to it, and it told me the path to the golden lands of Minecraftia, but sadly, I had no such luck. Instead the first page was yellow and crinkled by the passage of time.

Dear Notch.

I dedicate this book to you, as I have for seen that you are the first to read this book contains the fate of Minecraftia as we know it. Read on to your benefit, but know that face cannot be changed. For I present to you 2 prophecies, The Eldest Prophecy and the Ballad of Flames.

The 14th crafter, Never Seen before

Unmatched power, Straight from the core

The Fall of 4, The rise of Pillage

The Rise of Craftsmen, the Fall of Village

When all is said, when all is done

The void of the Flood, The shock of the Last One

But the Eldest, in all his Might

Shall flood this world, Shall flood the light.

"So, you found the Eldest Prophecy, huh?"

I turned around to face a shadow of a man in the doorway. I stuffed the book into my belt and unsheathed my enchanted diamond sword. "And you are?"

He laughed and answered with "The boogy man in your closet. Who I am is none of your business – what I need from the legendary Notch is the diamond. You know what one, right?"

Frowning, I replied with "Depends. Which Diamond are you looking for?"

The man opened his eyes – which glowed bright white. "Notch... I am not here to play games. Give me the diamond or else."

"What if I don't have it?" I asked, slyly reaching into my belt. My hand wrapped around a cool glass bottle. The person didn't show any sign of recognizing this action.

"If not... well. Then it ends badly for you, right?"

"Nope. Bye!"

I wiped out my potion of swiftness and body slammed him into the far wall. I slid to the right and cut down a cobweb that was in my path. The man stood up and withdrew a scythe – thanks to the mod that was added about 110 years ago. He twirled it into the air and threw it at me. Ducking under the projectile, I ran almost straight into a dead end.

The man retrieved his scythe and walked slowly towards me. "The great Notch. I though it would be an easier fight to – ARGH!"

The last part was due to me triggering a tripwire. The ground underneath him opened up and dropped him into a void of – well, I didn't stick around to find out. I turned around and ran out of the Crypt.

_**Finally! The first chapter of Update Destruction has been related! Please leave a review to say the faults and whatnot. Banjo on!**_


	4. The End of the Beginning

**BanjoNote: Didn't expect school to take it out of me, but here is to updating more then once a month!**

Chapter 2

The Beginning of the End

Who am I?

This thought, this tiny, insignificant thought, was the beginning of my existence. Somehow, I knew that, even though I had no clue what was going on. Several other... answers crossed my thoughts – I knew that my "code", my life force, was being created. I was being added to the world, almost like a... like a download. Where are these words coming from?

Another thought passed my mind. Alex...

A word... a name? Alex was surely a name, gender fluid at that. I knew I was female, and...

"GOD DAMN IT!" I yelled, shaking the very code of the world. Only seconds later, I realized what I did, how powerful I am, and the responsibility that came with it. I just shook the foundation of a planet – maybe an entire universe. I was almost certain I was the only one who affected the core this –

Ouch.

I fell out of the sky and straight into a bundle of leaves. Groaning, I attempted to sit up. Once I did, my branch cushion broke, and I fell on top of a pig. Rolling off of the muddy animal, I stood up and brushed myself off. Snorting, the pig walked away, leaving a stench that I would rather forget.

I appeared, not surprisingly, to be in a forest. To one side, a grey brick road trailed nonstop. To my other side, the forest was beautiful, with sunlight pouring though the leaves, and flowers were rife in this area. However, I heard a sound coming from the road.

_"Your one true loves a flying ship_

_That anchors in our pier_

_We type her commands, we craft her decks_

_We wipe the Creepers clear!_

_And yes, our Redstone shines for her_

_And yes, our skies are warm,_

_So, when we steer her into the depths _

_Any port in a storm!_

_The Villagers stand on the dock_

_The Crafters stand in line_

_As violent as the Nether_

_As rich as the Spine!_

_For all the Village loves her_

_And flock to where she's moored_

_Each man hoping that he'll_

_Go down, all hands-on board!_

"Excuse me!"

I stepped out into the road, and saw a man wearing a white shirt and a blue overcoat, and a matching blue backpack. His beige pants were stuffed into a pair of army boots. He rode on top of...

A Llama. A white llama, with a blue saddle. Whoever this man is, he really likes the colour blue. He stopped, looked at me, and slid off his mount. "Hello!"

Frowning, I walked up to him. "You seem very chipper to a stranger you just met. Why?"

"Because every stranger is a possible customer!"

"I... ok. But just lower the hype, alright?"

The man posture relaxed a bit. "Alright. My name is Gimero. Yours?" He extended a hand.

I shook his hand gently and said "Alex. It's, uh, nice to meet you, Gimero."

Gimero looked around. "You seem to be alone around here. Are you a lone villager?"

"It's hard to explain, I guess. I've not been around long." I said, confused. Gimero nodded as if there was nothing abnormal about this. He whistled loudly, and another llama walked out of the woods.

"You need a guide? I'm currently on my way to Lafor, the city in the plains. That where you heading?"

I shrugged. "I... guess? My area knowledge is quite minimal, honestly. Is Lafor that far from here?"

Gimero frowned. "Uh..." he turned to his first llama and opened a pouch. He pulled out an old and crinkly sheet of paper. "I kinda just... started with this. It's really old, so I don't quite know how accurate this is."

He offered the paper to me. Taking it, I looked at the surrounding area. The map only showed forest in the area. "Seems to be forest all around. Are the plains like, I don't know, north or whatever?"

Gimero raised an eyebrow. "North or whatever?"

"Look, I've been around for about 15 minutes. I don't even know what I am!"

He chuckled slightly, then hopped onto the first llama. Gesturing to the second llama, he said "You're what we in Minecraftia call a villager. Although..." his facial expression darkened. "The 14th update did- y'know what? Forget I said anything. Off we go!"

Giving him a curious look, I climbed on to the back of the other llama and looked at the map. Gimero had been heading west along the road. Weirdly, the map seemed to have a silver marker for where I was. Doing my soon-to-be signature shrug, I rolled the map up and placed it into my brown leather belt. Gimero headed off, and I followed him into an unknown world.

It didn't take long to encounter trouble. We travelled down the road for about an hour on our llamas (Who Gimero introduced as Simeron and Tina) before we met up with a man on a small cobble bridge, wearing a full set of black armour. Stabbed into the ground beside him was a sword made of iron, or steel. One of those white-grey metals. His hands crossed over his chest, he said gruffly "Pay the toll, or no passage."

Gimero swallowed audibly, and asked "How much?". He opened up a pouch in his belt and looked inside. The man smiled under his black helmet and said "Depends. Rich man like you? 50 emeralds."

I bit back a look of surprise and said "Whoa, whoa. Isn't that a bit much? Who even owns this bridge?"

He snarled at me. "Ain't none of your business, woman! Stay out of this!". Gimero shrugged at me and withdrew a single emerald- and was that a number beside it? The number read, 50.

Reaching his hand out, Gimero started to hand over the emeralds. I slid off my llama and looked in my belt. I pulled out the deadliest thing in there – the map – and pointed it at the man. "Listen, I may not be the most fearsome fighter, but I won't stand for-"

He snorted and pulled out his sword. "You think I'm gonna be merciful to people like you? If you wanna go, then-"

With a burst of speed, I slammed into him with all my strength. He staggered back, and I felt a surge of... is power the right word? I felt physically stronger, that was for sure. Recovering, he raised his sword and swung downwards.

I caught his arm and turned around. With a grunt, I judo-flipped him off the bridge. Grabbing the ledge, he glanced up at me and muttered "You're a Crafter?"

I gave him a curious look, but jumped back onto Simeron. Gimero gave me a look that was a mixture of surprise and curiosity. Shrugging, he took a wide berth from the man on the edge, and I followed.

But one thought passed my mind.

The hell is a Crafter?

**Next chapter is the beginning of the Road to Pillage arc. Longer then this Chapter? You bet! Read, Review, Follow and Fav, as the saying goes.**


	5. Chapter 3: Alone

Chapter 3

_Alone_

**BanjoNote: This chapter, while longer then the past 2 chapters, is still in the shorter side of things. I hope you enjoy it regardless.**

**The first Arc starts now!**

* * *

**-=Road to Pillage=-**

**The 14th Update has finally come to be! Our duo, Alex and Gimero, head their way to the Jewel of the Plains, Lafor. It's going to be one Nether of a journey - will our heroes be able to make it?**

**Probably. But read the next 7 Chapters to find out!**

* * *

[Gimero]

I looked up at our measly camp - a mere oak plank box with two rooms within it, and a pasture for my llamas. However, the only one to judge it was Alex, so I guess I was safe.

"How in -" She cleared her throat. "How did you put this up so fast?"

"Huh? Oh! um..." I looked around, realizing that I was going to have to train her. I was lucky enough to find a person named Tanner who found and taught me for a bit, but we had to part ways quickly. Now how am I to train Alex.

"Alright... so this world is a bit wonky when it comes to physics." I sighed. "I may ask you to do some crazy stuff, so bear with me. just imagine what it was like for the people who had to discover this."

Wincing mentally, I walked over to a nearby tree and said "Watch me, and try not to freak out."

Alex gave me a confused look, but proceeded to walk forward, crossing her arms. I cracked my bony knuckles (I wasn't the strongest man alive, no where close even.) and proceeded to beat the very bottom of the oak tree.

A few seconds later, the bottom quarter of the tree popped out. I grabbed it and stuffed it into my belt, then turned to Alex. Her arms fell to her waist, blinked once over the stretch of a couple of seconds, then coughed.

"Two questions."

"Only two?" I asked back.

She ignored me. "First: Did you break through a couple of inches of pure bark and wood?"

"...Yes."

"Second: Why is the tree still floating?"

I looked at the tree that was, true to her word, was floating a couple of feet in the air.

"I'll get you that answer when I find it."

Alex nodded, then continued to nod for almost exactly half a minute. "Am I going insane?" She finally asked.

"That's three questions," I noted. "And we'll find that answer, although it's most likely not. Nevertheless, You can get the rest of the tree."

"I- alright." She mentally prepared herself (Or at least I think so) and proceeded to repeat what I had done the the bottom of the tree.

Soon all three logs had floated into her belt. Holding them up, she looked at the box and said "These look different."

"Because you haven't quite changed them into planks. It's hard to explain this, but... imagine that there's a two by two grid in front of you. Then place the logs in there."

Alex, probably learning to go with it, squinted and then placed a single log into what seemed to be open air. Soundlessly, it turned into 4 planks. Looking at them, she shrugged and proclaimed "I think... well, it'll take a long time to get used to this, but I can go with it for now."

I nodded absently, then changed my oaks into planks. "Next is the crafting ta- wait, how did you-"

Alex held up the table in her hand. "I mean, it wasn't that hard to stumble on. I just filled up the grid."

I considered that. "Fair."

* * *

[Alex]

The training took the next hour or so, as Gimero told me how to take inventory through my belt, although the health and hunger bar came as a surprise to me, when he smacked me on the head, rattling my vision and making ten hearts appear on the bottom left of my vision, and corn dogs on the bottom right. I gratefully munched on an apple and sat down on the edge of the river we were near.

But a question was at the edge of my mind. "Hey, Gimero, what's a Crafter?"

Gimero swallowed loudly and said "Ah, well, I guess I do owe you that explanation, don't I?"

Sensing discomfort, I replied with "You don't have to answer. I was just... curious."

Gimero laughed weakly. "Typically, when someone says _You don't have to answer,_ that means you kinda do."

"Never thought about it in that way."

"No worries. Hmm, where to start... A Crafter is different then a villager, which is what me and you are. A villager is a simple folk. We do what we have to do to survive - craft, build, mine, et cetera. We can live up to around a thousand years, and we have been around for- huh." Gimero frowned. "I'd say 700 years or so? That was when the first village was established.

"But Crafter's don't age. They are granted powers that no one knows the origin of. The last Crafter, I believe his name was Dinnerbone. He had power over water and all that."

"Huh."

"Yeah, it's confusing. They arrive with an update, which adds new things to the world of MineCraftia. They happen every decade, and this decade's update happened yesterday."

"The 14th update." I interrupted. Gimero frowned and said "How did you know that?"

"How do you know the history of all this?"

"Fair. I do seem to have some sort of innate knowledge, although this isn't unheard of. But you don't seem to know any of this, so how did you know _that?_"

"I think... maybe you mentioned it over the ride?" I tried to remember when I learned that, but I was pretty sure Gimero didn't tell me that.

"Anyways, back to the subject. Why was I called a Crafted back at the bridge?" I asked. "Did the burst of strength mean anything?"

Gimero shrugged. "Probably not. The 11th Crafter had the ability of effects, and duplicate powers aren't possible. I'd put the strength down to adrenaline or something similar."

He stood up and huddled in his blue overcoat. "By Notch, it's freezing. I'm going to bed. I don't understand how you can live in those clothes."

"What's wrong with my clothes?" I looked down. I was wearing a green tee, with brown jeans and grey army boots. I showed him my gold bracelets in each wrist and asked "You don't like the bling?"

Gimero sighed and muttered "Just don't stay up too long."

"Alright, I'll head in." I stood up and walked into the box, intent on sleeping.

* * *

Hooray for peaceful sleeping. I fully expected a full on Lord of the Rings vision with grey, swirling smoke and Nazgul walking towards me with their swords pointed downwards.

Or was it upwards?

The hell even _is _Lord of the Rings?

Nevertheless, I slept like the dead, which is a good thing, despite the name. Why are all good things named bad?

Maybe it's the morning after.

When I woke up, I looked at Gimero's bed and saw that it was empty, save for his backpack. Shrugging it off as waking up earlier, I stretched after my restful sleep and slung Gimero's pack of ware's on. I walked outside, and an arrow missed me by a centimeter.

Waking up fully, I dived behind a tree a bit dramatically and looked around the side. I nearly fainted there and then.

Sliding behind the tree, I decided that Gimero needed to emphasize on certain topics. Sure, he said that monsters thrive in darkness, but not the undead!

Currently, It was under the shade of a tree, so it wasn't burning, or so Gimero said. I pulled out my fishing rod and whipped the bobber at the skeleton. It hooked onto one of the ribs, and I yanked it backwards.

The skeleton practically fell on it's face - no wait, skull, then promptly burst into flames. After a couple of seconds of struggling, it disappeared, leaving a weird combination of two bones, an arrow, and the bow it was holding. I watched as the loot floated to my belt, but I grabbed the bow off the ground. It was at half durability, but it was the only one I had.

To be honest, I didn't even know bow's would exist.

Realizing that Gimero hadn't interacted with me at all, not even a shriek, I looked the llama's. Simeron spat on the ground, and I nodded in agreement.

"Gimero is either in trouble," I whispered to myself. "Or he's being an idiot. Which is another form of trouble."

I started to the forest, but then I looked back at the llamas. I shrugged, said "They'll be fine.", and continued into the forest.

* * *

It wasn't hard to find the tower. I mean, wouldn't that have ruined the point of a _tower_?

However, my mind went straight to auto-correct mode, and changed the name to _Pillager Outpost. _I had no idea what was going on with that, but I wasn't complaining.

The Outpost rose way above the treeline, and it was surrounded by some sort of camp - but once agian, my mind auto-corrected it to a _Village._ It stood in a depression, with hills surrounding it in all directions. Perfect for defense against certain types of attacks, bad for miss ol' Alex.

My inner scholar told me that the Outpost itself had gone through some upgrades, as it was made mostly of stone bricks and some sort of blackish material. At least I believed it was stone bricks. It looked the sane colour as my stack of 30 cobblestone.

What bothered me is the village. It once had to be populated by Villagers, correct? So where were they?

Out of one of the 30 or s houses, a man walked out. His skin was grey, and he wore a trench coat, all dark colours, and black leather boots. The majority of them held crossbows at their side. I shuddered involuntarily, as if a bad feeling was seeping into me.

I saw a little marker above my health bar, although I didn't pay it much attention. My conscience told me that it was called _Bad Omen_, although I also didn't pay that much attention either.

Because Gimero, alongside 9 other villagers, were standing outside a cave, that was not too far from here.

* * *

[Gimero]

"Alright, you filth, listen up." The pillager in front of us growled. "You ten are lucky to be alive. You caught by the eastern outpost, the most merciful of the..." He frowned, then turned to his friend. "How many?"

"Herobrine above, how many times must I tell you? It's eight!"

"Shut up, the two of you." The third and last one growled. He gestured to a table on the right wall of the cave. On it, there was ten iron picks. "You may be alive, but believe me, you'll regret that soon. You're gonna mine, day and night, untill you start puking out iron ingots. We may be the smallest -"

I gave an almost inaudible squeak at that. He turned to me, smiled, and continued. "But we will have gear the others won't. Supply it to us, and _maybe_ we'll guve you a head start into the woods. Maybe."

"You always overdo that part." The first one muttered.

"Shush." the second one muttered.

As I stumbled to the pickaxes, I quietly sobbed. The smallest outpost? Even if there was only 30 houses - which was big enough on it's own - There was at least 70 pillagers here. What in the name of Notch were they planning?

Too scared to think up of an escape plan, I hefted the pickaxe and longed for the time before I was knocked out, dragged into an invaded village, and forced to do slave labour.

Oh, those sweet, wonderful 2 days!

* * *

[Alex]

I saw Gimero walk into the cave, and it didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on.

I took off Gimero's backpacks and looked in his wares. A full stack of cobble, 3 stacks of dirt, a set of stone tools, a clock and a compass. Whenever I held the compass up, however, it pointed in thr direction of where I spawned, or so Gimero called it. I didn't like the word _spawn_, but whatever.

My own inventory was even worse off. A set of wooden tools, a bow, a fishing rod at EXTREMELY low durability, 2 bones, an arrow, 30 cobblestone, and 2 full stacks of dirt.

"It's going to be a pain in the ass to get you out, Gimero," I muttered to myself quietly. "But Goddammit, whoever god is, I'm getting you out of there. Just give me some time to, uh,"

I thought for a second. "Run back to base."

* * *

**BanjoNote: Didn't expect to keep having setbacks, but at least it got out!**

**Next Chapter: Jailbreak Part 1! Until then, just keep Banjo-ing!**


	6. Jailbreak Part 1: Into the Outpost

Chapter 4

_Jailbreak Part 1: Into the Outpost_

**BanjoNote: This Chapter is one of the chapters I changed _drastically _in order for things to fit into place nicely. One of these changes include the first session, which is kind of a teaser for the next Arc, of which the name will be released at around chapter 7 or 8.** **J****ailbreak is a two parter, and maybe one of the better parts of this Arc. Whilst Road to Pillage is the smallest arc, it's pretty spontaneous also.**

**Onto the Chapter**!

* * *

[Sileeno]

"But why?" I muttered to myself. "What was that ripple?"

I stood in a large room, filled with various redstone machinery and dust. It was near impossible not to step on some dust without getting any on your shoes. My lab jacket was practically 75% red by now. I silently cursed whoever chose to make these jackets white.

If an uneducated eye was to look into this room, they would see a work of a mad scientist, although that would only be partially correct. The purpose of this room was to try and find the secrets of Minecraftia in a matter of minutes. _Not _three days, however. I learned Dinnerbone's power in a matter of seconds! I am a friend of the Crafter Jeb, who even supplies me with an indefinite supply of them. Well, I only needed one, but it's nice to have a friend who can read the code.

What was taking me so long? My newest concern was concerning the Triple Ripple theory. Confused? Let me run you through it.

So, every time an Update rolls around, two ripples are let out. The first signifies the actual update coming to be, and the second signifies the spawning of the Crafter, about a day later. This decade, a third ripple was released, in between the two normal ripples. For the past 3 days, I have been trying to find out where the ripple originated, why it happened, and why now. So far, I've only learned that it originated from somewhere in the Brioxarat sea. Which, of course, is about a third of the landmass.

A pleasant _ding! _rang out from the note block alarm, signifying that my machine found something. Excited, I bolted up the stairs to my box to find out what was the news. Flipping levers and hitting buttons in a flurry, I managed to not screw up the pattern that opens the far wall. The bricks started to disappear, from the middle out, revealing a large quartz slate. Inputting another command, Black wool started to fill in the slate in the form of words.

**Entity:Eldest**

Frowning, I looked at the words from my cockpit. I walked outside into the actual machinery, and stood on a particularly high wire.

"Entity... Eldest?" I muttered under my breath. "This makes no sense.

"I'm going to need Jeb for this."

* * *

[Alex]

I paced back and forth around Gimero's two llamas. Now back at camp, I decided to come up with a plan, but nothing had come to mind - other than sneaking in, although that was near impossible due to the sheer number of pillagers inside there. I would literally have to be invisible.

Though... with all the crazy things I've learned in the past day, it probably wasn't impossible to do that. Probably involved punching something. _Everything _involves punching something, apparently.

_A Crafter. _The more I thought about it, the more _correct _it felt to say. I'm positive that coincidence on the bridge was more than a coincidence. Gimero had said that Crafters held immense abilities, more then a normal Villager could possibly handle. After all, I _had _sent out a ripple across the world. Who, truly who, else could I be?

But... what was my ability? Super Strength? Not only did I not feel super strong right now, but I'm pretty sure it's not hard to imagine the strength I had on that bridge. Hit the gym, or something.

I breathed in deep, trying to reach out into anything that felt... divine in me? I certainly didn't feel godly, that's for sure.

Needless to say, nothing happened, I mentally swore to myself, and then sighed. My supreme knowledge seemed to have left me, or else it had nithing to offer. Right now, Brilliant Alex had left the Party.

"Okay, Not-So-Brilliant Alex," I whispered to myself. "Let's get the gears turning."

To be honest, when I promised Gimero I would get him out of there, I fully expected a burst of knowledge.

"Really wish random idea's could pop up anytime," I sighed again.

_Ravagers._"Like that. Wait-what?" I frowned. "Ravagers?"

I wasn't given any context. Honestly, I didn't expect any.

"Well." I turned to one of the llamas - Tina, I believe. "Don't suppose _you _know what a Ravager is?"

Tina snorted and gave me a look, though that means it implied something. Hed face was a blank sheet.

"So my power isn't speaking with animals," I noted to myself and nodded. "Good to know." I tossed a steak into her pen and said "Eat up, Tina."

She spit on the ground, although that was also hard to interpret. I watched as the steak floated into my belt. "You are one confusing enigma, Tina."

I pulled out my sword and twirled it dramatically in my hand, which made me drop it. Picking it up, I made my way to the outpost. 'Tis but a half hour walk.

* * *

[Gimero]

A pillager prodded me in the back with his crossbow and growled " Hey, Pipsqueak! Put your back into it! If this is full hundred percent, then give me a reason not to plant an arrow in your neck!"

"Because he's capable of doing this, unlike you!" The woman working to the right of me retorted. The pillager turned to her and sneered.

"Human, if you try something, I will personally plant an arrow-"

I gave a tiny squeak at the word _human_. The two gave a look this way, sighed simultaneously, and went back to their 'jobs'. Which was a good idea, because I was two seconds to releasing a shriek.

"Name's Athara, in case you were wondering." The woman told me. She wore a red tunic with various pouches and straps, with a pair of leather gauntlets. Beige pants ended about halfway below the knee where brown boots took up the rest. Her hood was down, revealing short dark red hair with black streaks. Her eyes were a startling orange, like a captive fire, and that nearly made me piss my pants.

Nearly is the key word.

I nodded and muttered my name, but it was so quiet it came out more like "_Giminah..._"

"Uh... sorry? Jim who?" Athara frowned.

"G-Gimero. Hard G." I explained a bit further.

Why was I acting scared? Maybe it's because I was using the ol' diversion tactic, but the truth was I truly wasn't acting. See, Humans and Villagers have a... violent relationship, prejudices between the two. It's a long story. Maybe I'll tell you later.

I was really starting to hate this innate knowledge thing. Not only do I know things that I really would prefer not to, but we get a tendency to have people believe that we are destined for greater things. That we're special.

And by Notch, I hate being special. It makes people think higher of you.

...

"I also have a very bad case of anxiety." I explained out loud. Athara rolled her eyes and turned away from me.

* * *

[Alex]

I found out what a Ravager was. Not only was it useless, but as Gimero would eloquently describe it, they were big, scary, gray, vaguely villager looking, horny bulls.

Horny _maybe_ wasn't the best way to describe them. They had horns. They were twice the size of my arm. It posed a major problem.

Brilliant Alex's idea was to start a stampede, which sounds good on a base level. Except for the fact that they seem to be fairly well tamed, and I only had one arrow. Shoot one, the rest hopefully run around. I grab Gimero, and we fly out of there like Sonic the Hedgehog.

Whoever the hell that is.

I climbed a particularly high tree, then pulled back an arrow in my bow. I aimed it at the closest bull.

It could've flown true.

It probably would've flown true.

Except for the fact that someone decided to take that moment to say in an ominous voice, "That's a very bad idea."

So I did as anyone would do. I jumped for a second, released the arrow, and it shot up, up and away.

I fumbled for the first thing I grabbed - the fishing rod. I whipped around and let the bobber loose, but not only did I miss, but it crumbled in my hand.

What kind of fishing rod breaks like that?

I unsheathed my wooden sword from my tiny belt pouch and looked at the intruder. He looked like a normal pillager, but he had a magnificent goatee.

Which, sorry for you goatee - rockers out there, signified how much he had to die.

I swung a horizontal cut at his gut, but he stepped backwards. I stumbled forward, very unbalanced.

"Now, now." he said coolly. "There's no need to be aggressive. I just want to talk. 'Tis but a friendly meeting."

I managed to still myself, but I didn't swing at him. "And what makes you say that?" My fearsome sword of wood stayed pointed at him.

"I see that you have taken interest in one of our slaves." he noted, pushing the sword tip down. "Sorry, that was getting uncomfortable."

"Well-" I raised the sword up again. "It's not just the one. A little voice tells me that you don't usually take slaves."

_Little voice?__Shut up. I'm working._"See, us pillagers can't interact with the world like you villagers. So, unlike other outposts, we, ah, have you people do it for us."

"Y'know, you could've just said slavery."

"Shut up. The point is, I will offer you a deal. I am... second in command of this outpost. I would attempt to do this myself, but it is so much easier to send you in instead."

"You ain't told me anything so far." I told him.

He sighed. "My name is Pete, and -"

"Pete the Pillager?" I snorted. "What kind if name is that?"

He sighed again. "Let's take this into my house."

* * *

Luckily, there were no pillagers around. The plan for when things were to go south was to disguise me as a slave.

He didn't think about what others would think about bringing a woman to your house under the pretense of a slave. Men, honestly.

His house was quite small for one in second in command. It was 4 blocks long, 3 wide, and two floors. A ladder led up to the second floor, where a chest lay. The only furniture in the building was the chest and a single bed.

Not even a chair, and I haven't sat down in a long time, or so it felt.

I followed Pete onto the second floor, where a window took up the middle half of the wall. Pete did the dramatic thing, where he looked out the window with his arms crossed on his back. I did the anti-dramatic thing, and sat cross legged on the floor. Pete looked down on my and just shook his head.

"So," he gestured to the view out of the window, which was basically just the outpost in all of it's glory. "I offer you a job. I require you to eliminate the Captain of the outpost."

"Um... in case you haven't noticed, I'm fairly new to this whole 'combat" thing. What makes you think that I can eliminate a leader of... this?" I gestured to the village. "It's gotta take alot of skill to rise to the top."

"He didn't rise to the top. He just started there."

"...In everything I've learned in the past two days, this makes more sense then normal."

"Yes. Anyways, with the gear you have as of right now, there is no possible way to break in in enough time as to not be caught. Pulos made sure of this, by using obsidian."

Looking at the blackish-purple blocks, I nodded. "So you have a different way in, supposedly?"

Pete nodded. "In the chest are some items that will help you. I have a secret tunnel that connects to under the tower. After that, the rest should be simple."

I turned to the chest and viewed the contents. A set of iron tools, iron armour, a pair of shears, a shield and a crossbow. The last two were glowing a slight purple, but I grabbed them all anyways.

Sliding the armour on, I turned back to Pete.

"Well, point me in that direction. If I'm going to die..." I hefted the shield and iron sword. "Then let's not keep me waiting."

* * *

[Gimero]

Good thing we had to sleep.

The pillagers, despite promising us that we'd have to work all night, were disappointed that we had to actually sleep in order to not collapse from exhaustion.

I was in danger of collapsing in fear. It's what we like to call a heart attack.

Instead of immediately going to bed, I decided to hang out outside, sitting by the door. Naturally, Minecraftia can't give me a break, because the human came around.

"Can't sleep?" Athara asked, sitting down on the other side of the door. Trying to keep interaction as low as possible, I merely shrugged.

Athara rolled her eyes. "Seriously, Gimero. There's no point in being afraid. Honestly, it's like you think I crawled out of the Nether."

"I mean... you could have."

She chuckled slightly. "I mean, I have entered the Nether before. A couple of times, actually. Not a fun place."

"I don't think it wou-"

A group of pillagers rushed by us, holding their weapons. I shot up and squeaked. "I, I, uh, think I'll head inside."

Just as I turned to the doorway, a female voice yelled "OH, COME ON!"

Wait... that was _Alex._

"On second thought, That's my friend." I gulped audibly. "And, despite not wanting to, I should go see her."

Athara pulled out her only weapon - the pickaxe - and asked "What are we waiting for?"

* * *

**BanjoNote: Lot of things to unpack in this chapter. I won't go through them, since you've probably found all of them in here. This chapter is a little late, but only by a day or so. I'm getting better at this!**

**So, next chapter will take a bit longer to write down, but until then, Read, Review, Favourite and Follow. And, Banjo On!**


	7. Jailbreak Part 2: Struggle of Power

Chapter 5

_Jailbreak Part 2: Struggle of Power_

**BanjoNote: The Road to Pillage Arc is almost halfway done? Damn, these kind of things fly right by! The battle between Alex and the Outpost shall begin, but will she win? I'm aiming for a longer chapter, but, knowing me, it'll fall short. End of this chapter, I'll reveal something.**

**On with Struggle of Power!**

* * *

[Alex]

"COME ON!"

On second thought, I shouldn't have yelled that out loud, but the pillager I was fighting was really pissing me off. I swung my sword downwards, but he once again raised his crossbow to block the strike. He jumped backwards and fired the bolt into my stomach, and I raised my shield, blocking the blow.

_Alright. Time for my secret attack._

I ran at him and delivered a flying kick into his nether region. He yelled and dropped his crossbow. Standing up, I stabbed him in the gut, exploding him into a shower of green exp orbs that floated into my chest. What had Gimero called them? Experience?

A Ravager roared behind me, from somewhere in the village. I took out my cobble and blocked up the entrance to the outpost, giving me a moment's rest. I took out a steak from my belt that I had stocked up on before returning to the outpost and ate it hungrily. Looking up at the stairs, I rolled my shoulders and hefted my sword and shield.

"Two down, eight to go." My health was maxed out, so I progressed up the stairs, hiding behind my shield.

_Funny what goes through your mind, _I thought to myself. _Wonder how Gimero's doing..._

* * *

[Gimero]

Me and Athara arrived at the outpost, just in time to see 30 pillagers and a couple of Ravagers pile up on a cobblestone blockade. Athara pulled me behind a building, and whispered "Well, what now?"

I gave her a look of fear. "Don't look at me! I hav- MMMPH!"

Her hand clasped around my mouth, her eyes giving a message I chose not to interpret. "Half the camp is out there. Talk quieter."

I removed her hand from my mouth and nodded. "Look, you're the mastermind here. I just know that Alex is in that tower."

She looked at the half-obsidian Outpost. "Who is Alex? Villager? Human?"

"Uh..." I thought about the incident on the bridge. Who really was she? If she was a villager or human, then she was exceptionally strong. And, to make matters worse, she didn't look as strong then what she portrayed...

There really only was one answer, and I hated it.

"Crafter. She's the 14th Crafter."

Athara stared at me. Looking me up and down, she slowly came to realize that I was saying the truth - as far as I knew.

"Well, we need to get her the _fuck _out of there, then."

I nodded, then peered over the corner to the mob of pillagers. "What do we do about the crowd, first of all? Nothing that involves me running into there, and I'll probably agree." I asked her.

She looked around, then a diabolical grin slowly appeared on her face. "Josie."

"Josie?"

* * *

[Alex]

I swung my iron sword upwards, staggering one of the three pillagers in the room. He wobbled back and forth, and I bashed into him with my shield. Kicking away from him, I rolled to the side as an arrow flew overhead.

How I knew the arrow was heading this way, I had no idea. I switched out my sword for the purple crossbow, loaded it, and fired it. It hit the one that had shot at me, landing in his shoulder. He pulled the arrow out of his body and threw it on the ground, breaking it.

"Waste of a good arrow." I muttered. Miraculously, another arrow popped up in the crossbow. Frowning, I pulled the string back, and shot it into the staggered one. He promptly ceased to be in a matter of milliseconds.

The other two advanced at me, and I turned to meet them. I swung my sword at the left one, pushing him back a couple steps. I ducked under a swing of the crossbow, and slammed my crouched body into the right pillager As he fell over, I grabbed his arm and swung him around into the other pillager. I leaped upwards way higher then I should have been able to, and landed on top of the pile, sword pointed downwards. They both exploded under me, and I rolled onto my back, exhausted. I munched on some steak, though I was too tired to actually appreciate the taste. After taking a minute, I stood up and staggered towards to staircase.

Almost immediately, an arrow flew over my head. Surprised, I held up my shield in time to hear two _thunks_ into the wood. Raising my sword, I looked around the staircase to find the attackers, but no one was on the staircase. I knit my eyebrows in confusion, then noticed a thin white line about halfway up the tower. It was connected to two hooks on opposite walls.

It didn't take all of my genius to figure out it was a tripwire.

I slowly approached it and tried to step over it. The string bent and I heard a slight creaking noise. I quickly retreated my foot back, and looked around for what it would trigger. When nothing was in sight, I stepped back and shot an arrow at the string.

Strangely, the arrow went straight through the string. I reached over the string and grabbed the arrow. When I brought the arrow back, the feather caught on the string.

With a horrifyingly silent _click!_ The roof opened up above me and dropped 4 flashing white blocks. I had time to register the letters TNT and think _well, that's overkill. _before the inevitable happened.

* * *

[Gimero]

**_Boom!_**

Startled, I looked up at the tower just as an explosion blew up a side of the tower, at a part that wasn't filled in with obsidian.

"NO!" I yelled. Athara turned around and swore violently.

"Fuck!" She took out a... book? She started flipping through the pages and stopped on one. "Oh... oh, Notch..."

"What?" I asked fearfully. "Please tell me Alex survived."

"Ah... well." Athara closed the book and looked above me at the hole in the wall, refusing to meet my gaze. "Surviving explosions like that... was part of Jeb's ability."

"But..." I looked down at the ground. "I..."

"HEY! GIMERO!"

I turned to the tower, and stared in awe as I saw Alex waving at me.

"What... h-how?" Athara stuttered. "She should - I mean, I'm not complaining, but -"

"BEHIND YOU!" Alex pointed with her sword. I turned around just as Athara raised her pickaxe to deflect an arrow with the iron part. I picked up the arrow and stuffed it into my belt.

"Well," I sighed shakily as I ran behind a building. "All of this isn't helping my digestive system at all."

* * *

[Alex]

If there was any doubt before, that's gone now.

I, Alex, was one of the most powerful beings in existence. I was a Crafter.

I didn't know how to feel about that. I took literally zero damage from the blast, and I didn't go flying out the hole in the wall. A slight smoke hung around the staircase, and after I had gestured out to Gimero, I walked up to the next floor like nothing had happened.

I had no idea how to walk up to the next floor anyways.

The three pillagers were laughing like maniacs when I walked out of the smoke. They took a step back, fumbling with their crossbows. I raised my sword, smirked slightly, and whispered "Hello boys."

I was just doing that to be intimidating. In truth, I was still reeling from the blast. Still, I charged at the middle one and slashed him up until he fell over and disappeared. I pushed off the left one and somehow_back flipped_ over the right one and stabbed him in the back. Still on the blade, I spun around and slammed him into the ground. With a burst of strength, I lifted his prone body and threw him out of the hole in the wall.

The last one retreated up the stairs to the top of the tower. I ran up the stairs after him, strangely not exhausted after throwing a person out of a window.

I stepped into the thin open air, in a gazebo - like area. There was a domed roof above me, made of cobblestone and some sort of dark wood planks. Instead of walls holding up the roof, nine pillars of obsidian were spread out on the edges. Remembering the tree's, I guessed that the pillars served no functional purpose, only aesthetic.

I walked up the stairs to the center of the room. In front of me, a pillager wearing full diamond armour stood with his back turned, flanked by two pillagers. They had their crossbows pointed at me, though one of them was shaking fearfully.

"So. You're the one who killed everyone in the tower?" The center one asked, his back still turned. What was the leader's name again? Pulley or something?

Oh, right. Pulos.

"Pulos, I presume?" I asked the pillager in diamond armour. "If I heard correct, you were the one who decided to use slave labour in order to gain strength."

Pulos laughed. "I know what you are, 14th Crafter. We did what we must."

He turned around and gestured to the room. "You won't find a better Outpost than this in all of Minecraftia. We have been given orders, and the eastern Outpost shall be the one to deliver the kill!"

"...You aren't making much sense."

Pulos pointed at my chest with and arrow. "Our master told us that you would be heading to the Jewel of the Plains, Lafor. We were to kill you when you got there, but here you are." He laughed maniacally. "It's almost... _ironic!_"

I raised my sword at him. "I think I'm going to kill you first."

"You can try! But this chestplate is enchanted with Thorns III, courtesies to my master."

Not having any clue what the hell that meant, I ran at him.

* * *

[Gimero]

Athara spun around, slamming her pickaxe into the side of a pillager's head. I ran behind her, watching for any threats coming onto her back.

At least, that's what I told her. In truth, I was hiding behind her. My skills only really involve merchandise, running and hiding. That's all I really have ever needed.

Except for now.

Athara blocked another arrow, and I picked it up off the ground, stuffing it into the rest of the arrows. She finished off the pillager and turned to me. "You gonna do something other than hide?"

"Yes!" I replied. "I'll, uh..." I pulled out the 10 arrows I've collected. "This?"

She rolled her eyes and pointed. I followed her gaze to a large house, which had the size of a slightly larger then normal house. Compared to all of the other houses, this looked like a mansion. I don't like mansions much.

"What's in there?" I asked, putting the arrows back into my belt pouch.

"Our things are in there, as far as I know, in there." She answered. My backpack had my essentials, but my wares were in my inventory. I liked my wares. They were my only way of getting emeralds.

Athara kicked in the door and ran in. I walked in at a slow pace, looking around for any signs of life. Frankly, it was unnecessary, as they would've chased after Athara. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a line of chests.

"Athara?" I called out. "Over here!"

She walked over to me, and we headed towards the chests. Above them, a pillager had a villager put up signs that described us in, suffice to say it, crudely correct ways. Or, at least, they had vendettas against _W__eak, Blue, Stickman _people.

Listen, muscles ain't anything compared to the craft of merchandise. I opened that chest, the last one in the line. Inside was my inventory, which was quite alot. I started to stuff them into my belt.

Athara opened the chest that was labeled _Red Girl_. She took out all of her inventory, smiling when she finally pulled out an enchanted bow. She tested out the string, nodding when she pulled it back fully with ease.

"Alright." She nocked an arrow on her bow. "Let's find Josie."

"Who-"

"Josie. The Iron Golem."

I gave her a blank look, then a smile grew on my face.

* * *

[Alex]

The two pillagers stood in front of Pulos, their crossbows pointed at my chest. I twisted horizontally as they fired, narrowly dodging the bolts as they passed over each side of my body. I spun around and slashed at them, knocking them out of the way. Pulos raised his crossbow and fired as soon as the other pillagers were out of the way. Surprised, it met me straight in the chest, doubling me over. I raised my sword and blocked his crossbow that he attempted to swing down on my head. I pulled the arrow out of my chest and threw it off the tower, pulling out my shield.

He knit his eyebrows. On each side of the room, the pillagers got up from prone and began to load their crossbows.

Pulos raised his hand, signaling for them to stop. "We can't possibly beat this woman. Did you see how easily she dodged your arrows?"

I twirled my sword. "Don't you worry. I only need him." I pointed at Pulos. "He's the one who started the slavery... project."

He laughed again, and I resisted the urge to shoot him with an arrow. "Look. Aren't you tired of the same ol' combat situations? Sword against crossbow?"

"It's doing perfectly fine for me."

Pulos put away his weapon, then doffed his armour. "See, I fully expected you to pull off some bullshot like dodging projectiles, or surviving TnT. So, what we're doing, is a little something called Sumo. Heard of it?"

The answer to that came to me, though the thought was ludicrous.

I gave him a look, which conveyed are you an idiot? "What? So we just... punch each other off this tower?"

"...I have no idea how you knew that, but yeah. That's the basic premise."

I looked around, taking in the size of this arena. I really had no other choice, as they would try to knock me off the tower anyways. I nodded, putting away my sword but keeping my armour on. He smiled, and ran at me.

"This is the most ridiculous thing I've done in my two days of existence." I muttered, stepping away from his swing and returning one of my own, right in the nose

He staggered back, holding his nose. His leg came up, catching me in the gut. I groaned from being hit in the same area a million times. Gray spots danced in and out of my sight, and Pulos grabbed my neck.

"Look... here." His voice strained as he began to lift me up off the ground. "You come... into my home... and kill every person in my tower." He started to walk to the edge. "Now, I'm going to throw you... off... this fucking tower!"

And, true to his word, he thrust his hand out and dropped me.

I didn't like that ending to the Ballad of Alex.

* * *

[Gimero]

"ALEX!" Athara yelled. Frowning, I turned to the tower and yelped.

Alex's limp body fell off the tower, spinning and curled up like a ball. I started to run towards the spot that she was falling to. From my belt, I withdrew a bucket of water and started to jump in one last stretch as she fell...

Then she wasn't there anymore.

I blinked once. Twice. Her loot wasn't on the floor. I didn't see her Head floating in front of me. It was just... like she teleported. But that was Yara'lyn's ability... just like surviving TnT was Jeb's ability.

Athara ran up behind me and went silent. "Gimero, I... I do-"

I turned around, wiping off the dirt from from my beige baggy pants. "No need to apologize. I... believe I've figured out Alex's Crafter power. We need to get her to Lafor."

I told her my suspicions, and her orange eyes widened in shock.

* * *

[Alex]

Let's rewind.

As I fell off the tower, dizzy and spinning around, something started to heat up in my chest. Above me, Pulos grinned and watched as I fell down to my death. Below me, I heard a female voice yell my name. No female knew me, but as I twisted around, I saw Gimero running towards the spot that I was going to go _SPLAT _against. He took out a bucket and leaped towards the spot, and as soon as I hit the ground, my innards felt like a volcano-

-and then I teleported up the tower and right behind Pulos. Not giving a second's thought, I slammed my body right into his, unbalancing him and sending him tumbling off the tower. I heard Gimero's startled shriek from up here. I turned around and looked at the other two pillagers - and a third. Pete smirked and nodded. "Good job, Alex. It is good to see you."

I donned my armour and grabbed my sword and shield. "Alright. We had a deal. Release the slaves."

"Oh, those fools? They will be allowed to leave. Maybe even a head start."

I raised my sword, level at his neck. "You will release them onto the road, and you will not follow them. I've gotten rid of Pulos."

He sighed and rolled his eyes. "I saw that. I only needed him gone because he was an incompetent fool. I didn't know that you were a Crafter, but this just proves that Pulos didn't have the smarts to kill.you himself. I on the other hand, do."

He waved his hand in a beckoning movement at the stairs, and about twenty pillagers flooded in behind him, arrows nocked and directed at my chest.

"So... you and Pulos had the same goal," I clarified. "Just you thought you could do it better. You need me dead."

He slowly began clapping. "Your slow mind finally catches up. Yes, 14th Crafter. You are to die, by the order of the master - the Eldest!"

The word _Eldest _sent shaking down my spine, though I had no clue as of why.

I looked around, trying to find a way out of this situation. My eyes rested on the open wall behind me.

I gave a pained smile to Pete, and used my weirdly athletic body to backflip off the tower.

* * *

**BanjoNote: Well... It was a longer chapter, after all. Over 3000 words ain't too shabby.**

**Now, for that surprise I mentioned. I'm coming up with a template for you guys to make OC's for Update: Destruction! The next Arc isn't that far off, and Lafor is a big city, so it'll be great to see some of your suggestions in the story! I'll put up the template by _next chapter, _though it'll be up in my profile description!**

**Next Chapter: Gimero's Hijnks! Until then, Read, Review, Follow and Favourite! And, as always, Banjo-on!**


	8. Gimero's Hijinks

Chapter 6

_Gimero's Hijinks_

**BanjoNote: This chapter... it was never _actually _planned in my document. This was originally supposed to be Jailbreak Part 3: Jailbroken. Instead, I decided to make a chapter that emphasizes Gimero as a main character, equal to Alex, and I hope this chapter is good enough to emphasize that. Gimero is a fun character, and I based him to be... Luigi-like.**

**Also, my apologies for describing him... incorrectly. Gimero is dark skinned, with extremely short hair, nearly bald and sea-green eyes. He doesn't wear the classic Wanderimg Trader outfit, instead choosing to wear a dark blue overcoat, having it buttoned up. He wears boots instead of sandals, no matter his chosen outfit. In this chapter, I'll describe his actual trading outfit.**

**Concerning ridable Llama's, mods _do _exist in the world. The only specific mod I will say for now is the Tinker's Mod.**

**The template for the OC is going to be put up on my Profile, because I don't want to hurt the word count.**

* * *

(**_Disclaimer: BanjoMano Doesn't Own Minecraft. You'd be stupid to think otherwise.)_**

* * *

[Gimero]

I stepped away from the falling point and placed a bucket of water, in case Alex fell. I gave Athara the diamond armour, and she gave me her old green leather armour. I slipped into the armour (although green was not my colour) and looked upwards at the tower.

Just in time to see Alex land in the water with a dramatic flourish. I jumped back and nearly knocked Athara onto the ground. She sighed and pushed me off of her. She stepped around me and looked Alex up and down. "So... Gimero here tell's me that you're the 14th Crafter."

Alex shrugged. "I suppose I am. Who are you?"

Athara looked at me. "Isn't it proper etiquette to introduce me to your friend?" she asked, a slight hint if sarcasm in her voice.

"Oh! Uh... Alex, this is Athara. Athara, Alex. Now, can we get out of here?" I half-asked, half-whimpered. They both turned to me, and looked at each other. Alex stuck out her hand, and Athara shook it.

I sighed, breaking it halfway through in fear. I looked around at the cage where Josie the iron golem was held, with three pillagers were patrolling. Athara followed my gaze and nodded to herself.

"Alright, Gimero." She turned to me. "I need to get Alex safely out of this camp, but we also need Josie."

I raised an eyebrow, a natural talent I have. "There is no possible way I can get an Iron Golem out of that cage by myself."

She gave me a smile that said _you don't really have a choice. _"You're a Villager, yeah? What profession do you specialize in?"

Against my better judgement, I puffed out my chest with enthusiasm. "I am Gimero, a Wandering Trader!"

Athara frowned. "What the hell is a Wandering Trader?"

Alex seized up. "A Wandering Trader is a new type of Villager added in Update 1.14, better known as Villaga and Pillage. They can be fou-" She shook her head violently. "Sorry. I don't know what came over me."

She tapped her left temple and rubbed it, as of she had a headache. "However, they seem to wear a different set of clothes. More elegant, and they have a scarf that appears to be red."

I sighed. Closing my eyes, I imagined my trader outfit. My current outfit faded away, replaced with a more extravagant outfit. I wore a blue cloak, with a gold trimming and a red inside. A long red scarf, inset with designs of bronze, wrapped itself around my neck. My white shirt was replaced with a dark green shirt, and my leather belt was replaced by a red belt, a golden clasp to hold it together. My beige pants turned into a baggier grey colour, but my boots remained the same combat style. My ear was peirced by a small golden loop.

"Well, here you are." I spread out my arms. "Don't I look so fancy?"

Alex gave me a slack-jawed look. "Did you just... change clothes at will?"

Athara rolled her eyes. "It's not that hard, newbie. You just imagine what you want to wear, then _bam._"

Alex closed her eyes, and suddenly she was in a faded gray tank top and jean shorts, with her orange hair tied up in a ponytail behind her back instead of braided over her shoulder. Same as to me, her combat boots stayed the same.

Athara looked her up and down once again. "That's a real Tomb Raider look there." Seeing Alex's dark look, she continued with "The new one. Not the sexualized one."

Alex closed her eyes again, then went back to her original outfit, except with a pair of leather gauntlets this time. Athara rolled her eyes and said "I didn't say it was a bad look."

Alex shrugged. "Anyways, we've stayed here too long. We need to move before-"

Threw arrows flew over our heads, narrowly missing our little trio. Athara swore and gestured at the cage. "Gimero, me and Athara are going to head north, away from Lafor. Get Josie and get to Lafor. _No detours._"

"Minor problem. How the _hell _am I to get her out of here?"

"I don't know! Barter with them or something!" She half-yelled. I shrank away from her and turned to the cage.

* * *

The double A team ran to the right, and I tried to remember my inner merchant. First step: incognito. I pulled my hood over my head and covered my mouth and nose with the scarf. I didn't have anything to look at myself, but I had to hope it would suffice. Can't let them know who I was, as I was currently a slave to them.

The next step is to approach not with caution, but with confidence. For some reason, I could do this easily. Maybe it was because I was in my element? Whatever it was, the patrol stopped and raised their crossbows at me.

_Appear harmless. _Well that was easy, mostly because it was true.

I raised a hand in greetings. "Hello there, good folk of this village!" my voice came out loud and strong, and luckily there was no one in sight other than these lads. Confused, they lowered their crossbows. The one in the middle grunted and said in a deep, hoarse voice "Who'er ye?"

I gave him what I hoped was a disarming smile. There faces darkened, which told me that it worked. Didn't make it feel any less then a grimace, however. "My name is not of importance, as I am but a traveler. What is of importance is what is on me!" I showcased the first of my many wares- a stone sword.

They oohed and aahed over it, but I put it into my belt. "Now, now. You cannot have my wares without emeralds, my dear friends. What do you have in exchange for the sword?"

The middle one frowned. "What is stopping me from killing you right now?"

I stopped for a second, resisting the urge to bolt after Alex and Athara. Luckily, an answer came to me. "Because I don't drop such wares when I die! Only my inventory drops when I die! After all, why have a set of leather armour when you can have Iron!?"

I was using my ace-in-the-hole - lying. The leather armour was actually part of my undroppable wares, and the Iron armour was part of my inventory. The left one scratched at his beard, and asked in a high pitch voice that seriously made me ask whether he skipped puberty. "We don't have much to give, sir! What would you ask for?"

Too easy. "Well, you seem to have such a prize behind you! I would ask for Jo- that Iron Golem!"

The middle one raised his crossbow at me. I gave him a shaky smile, trying not to let him know that I was vibrating like an engine of a racecar. "Now, now. Such a prize, shouldn't be worth as much as a full set of iron armour! Notch, I'll throw in the sword if y'all want!"

Josie slammed her arm (As golems have no fists) into the cage. "PUNY PILLAGERS WILL DIE!"

_Not helping_, I thought miserably. I placed a armour stand (Wandering Traders always have a stand with them) and started to equip it with armour. The two other pillagers turned to the middle one and shrugged.

I waved the stone sword in front of their face. "I mean, the iron golem is dangerous as is. She could, I don't know, break out and kill all of you. But, if she's with me... she won't be a danger!"

I stabbed a sword into the ground and spread my arms.

They nodded and gestured at the cage. I walked past them, pulled out an axe, and instead of breaking the cage open, I slammed it into the back of one of their heads. I quickly ducked and started to open the cage. Josie roared and charged right past me, knocking me off my feet.

Josie roared and smashed the one I hit with my axe. I rolled upright and stood up, rubbing the dirt out of my eyes. Josie swung his arm around and caught the right pillager in the stomach, sending him flying into a building.

I attempted to kick up to my feet, but I slipped and landed on my butt. I shook my head, and stood up, leaning on the remains of the cage. An arrow slammed into the wood beside my head, and I let out a yelp. Josie looked back at me, gave me a grin, and literally _fell _on top of the provoked pillager. It promptly exploded into experience, and I raised my arm to collect it.

I looked at Josie and the last pillager, who dropped his crossbow and ran in the opposite direction. I stuck my hand out on front of Josie. "Whoa, whoa there."

She turned to me. "JOSIE SAYS WE SHOULD GO TO BIG CITY!"

"Uh... Lafor?" I clarified? "Do you mean Lafor?"

Instead of a spoken answer, Josie scooped me up with a bear hug and ran straight into the woods. Sighing, I thought to myself _well, that was a hell of a day._

* * *

[Day 1 of 2: Greifer!]

After I slept for the rest of the night, me and Josie packed up camp and began our journey to the Jewel of the Plains, Lafor. I stayed in my trading outfit, to show the other travelers that I was open for business.

The day was rather uneventful for the most part, as the road was probably being picked clean by Pillagers. I rode on top of Simeron, pulling Tina along on a leash. Josie stormer straight in front of me, sending out minor earthquakes with every step. I sighed at our ragtag group, looking out on the road with less then little enthusiasm.

As night time rolled around, I set up a camp that consisted of one tiny house and a fenced in area. After taking an eon to herd my unwilling llamas into their pasture, I crawled into my bed and almost immediately heard Josie roar. I rolled off the bed and slammed face-first into the dirt floor. I stood up, coughing out dirt and grass, and opened the door to peak my head out.

Josie stood above a traveler, who seemed to be just a villager who was cowering under a shield. I burst through the doorway and yelped "No! Josie, this is _not _a pillager!"

"THEY ALL LOOK SAME TO JOSIE!"

"Uh..." The man looked at me. "This your iron golem?"

"JOSIE IS NO ONE'S GOLEM! JOSIE IS-"

I gave him a hopeless shrug. "I mean, she's my bodyguard, I guess you could say."

Josie gave a violent nod that made me seriously consider how flexible iron golem's necks are. The villager seemed to accept that answer.

"So... are you traveling to Lafor?" I asked him. "Either way, I have some wares. I'm what some call a wandering trader." In emphasis, I pulled out some Emeralds.

He pondered that and asked, "Do you buy things?"

I gave him another shrug. "Depends."

He pulled out a diamond sword and gestured at me. "How 'bout this?"

Raising an eyebrow, I looked up at his face. Instead of giving him an answer, my cowardly instinct forced my body to dive into the doorway. The greifer (People who kill and destroy for the sake of it) swung his sword and nicked my leg, knocking me further into the house. In a panic, I shut the door and thought to myself, _Why can't I have one day that doesn't involve something drastic!?_

The griefer kicked the door open and swung his sword at my gut. I rolled onto the bed and kicked him out the doorway, which makes it sound cooler then what it was. He was literally standing in the doorway in the first place.

Josie snapped her head to the griefer and bellowed "YOU NO MESS WITH GIMERO!TINY VILLAGER DIE NOW!"

With a massive _BOOM _sound, Josie tackled the griefer and began pummeling his head in. Standing up, she somehow managed to get a grip on his legs and started to twirl him around. I watched as Mr. Greifer was flung somewhere into the southern hemisphere, if Minecraftia had one.

Josie gave a huffy and sat down in the doorway, blocking any passageway in. Sighing shakily, I muttered to myself "One more day," And promptly passed out within two seconds. An ability I have, and a useful one at that.

* * *

[Final Day: The Jewel of the Plains]

I woke up groggy, and walked straight into a wall of Josie. She gave a surprised snort, and rolled to the side, still asleep. I gingerly stepped over her arm, trying not to wake her. Taking out some wheat, Simeron came straight to me. However, Tina stayed laying down in her corner of the pasture.

"Tina," I called, exasperated. "Eat your Wheat."

She slowly turned her head towards me, and gave a loud snort. I gestured to the wheat in my hand, waving it in front of Tina's face. "Eat up!"

In true llama fashion, she spit at me. It hit the fence in front of me, and I sighed, throwing the wheat at Simeron.

I broke down camp, waiting for Josie to wake up. Finally, after funneling my llama's out with surgeon's precision, Josie let out a yawn that approached levels that gave me a minor headache.

"Morning, Josie." I grumbled. "Only took you..." I pulled out a clock. "An hour."

The iron golem stood up and stretched, although being made of pure iron, probably didn't do much. I climbed on top of Simeron. "Lafor isn't too far from here. We should be there sometime around 1 or so."

"WHAT IS GIMERO WAITING FOR!? JOSIE LEAD THE WAY!"

"...I was waiting for you to lead the way."

"WHAT!?"

"N-nothing!"

* * *

Within a couple of hours, the forest around faded into a flat scenery, and the city of Lafor was in sight. True to it's moniker, the city was a gem to behold.

The second largest city in Minecraftia, it takes on a high- fantasy appearance, with walls made of cobblestone and dark oak planks and various other materials. Guard towers line each time the outer walls changed directions, the largest one's dead ahead on each side of the main gate. Flag poles lined the pathway to the gates, signaling the Lime Green national colors of the plains. The gates was flooded with travelers, and guards in Lime armour handed out passes left and right, making me thankful I wasn't spawned in a position that I could do that job capably.

Fort Cirenar, the castle in the dead center of the city, was visible even from outside the city. It's said that Cirenar is near impossible to break into, as the Council of Elders is held of the highest esteem. I couldn't help myself as a smile ran across my face.

"Well, Josie." I exhaled. "We're here."

"JOSIE NEED USE BATHROOM!"

"Josie... iron golems don't need to use the bathroom."

"... OKAY."

* * *

**BanjoNote: Alright! Gimero and Josie have made it to the Jewel of the Plains! In case you need a reference, Ragni from Wynncraft is a great place to look at the outer walls. Find the IP on their website, and Ragni is the first city you enter!**

**Sorry for the one-day delay. I bought a couple of books on Saturday, which is usually the day I finish prepping and start writing.**

**Next Chapter: Creeper: Aw Man! Untill then, Read, Review, Favourite, Follow, and Banjo-on!**


	9. Creeper! Aw Man

_Chapter 7_

_Creeper, Aw Man_

**BanjoNote: Back to Alex and Athara! After we saw what happens to Gimero in the last two days, it's time to see what happens to Alex.**

**Also, the schedule is really catching up to me. From now on, I am updating in _SUNDAYS_, and I'm going to take a break between Arcs.**

**On another note, Update: Destruction has gotten over 500 views! I know that isn't much comparatively, but look, it's still more then I expected since jumping back into this story. So here's to 1'000 views, come the next Arc!**

**I can't wait for the next Arc. The name will be revealed at the end of this chapter!**

**_Who owns Minecraft? Sure as hell ain't BanjoMano._**

* * *

[Alex]

Athara grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards the forest to the north. I pulled my arm back and pulled out my sword and shield, running after her. Athara nonchalantly shot an arrow into the air, and it arced down on top of a pillager's head, who was guarding a roof.

I slammed my shield into a pillager's head, pushing him onto his back. Athara jumped onto a window ledge, grabbed the edge of the roof, and flipped herself over. Midair, she fired at the pillager with the arrow in his head.

I looked up at the rooftop, and remembered the massive jump I did in the tower. Bending down low, I attempted to channel the power and jump upwards. Unfortunately, I had no such luck. Muttering to myself, I placed down a dirt block and scrambled onto the roof after Athara finished off the pillager with a last well placed arrow into his gut. She raised her arm to gain the exp orbs. A small number above her head appeared and went up from 72 to 73.

"W-what the hell is that?" I asked, exhausted from the battle. I stood up and jumped go the next roof, with Athara behind me.

"What's wh- oh, above my head?" She smirked slightly. "It's my level. Did I just level up?"

I shrugged and delivered a kick to a pillager, knocking him off the roof. "I think so. How did you get so high?"

Athara fired her bow at the next roof, knocking the other pillager into a Ravager pen. We leaped off to the next roof and looked into the forest. Pillagers surrounded the roof and fired upwards at us.

Just as the arrows fell on us, I flipped over Athara with all my dexterity and raised my shield, blocking the assault. Landing with a roll and up on my knees, I looked up at the red head. "We'll need to jump over them."

Athara stuffed her bow away and without a warning leaped over the crowd with a flip. Without stopping to look back, she Bolted into the forest.

_Well. _I thought to myself. I put up my shield and leaped off the roof.

I managed to go over the crowd, but one managed to swing his crossbow at my foot. I lurched forward, trying to stabilize myself, and raised my shield as another hail of arrows flew by. I burst up the hill as they loaded another volley, but I had disappeared into the dark woods by that time. I heard a loud swearing, but I had another thought on my mind.

* * *

[Pete the Pillager]

I walked up behind the crowd of pillagers, my hands behind my back. They split apart in front of me, and I pondered the forest.

Turning to the crowd, I pointed to a nearby pillager. "You. Bring the Greifer to me."

The pillager gave a snort worthy of a Ravager. "We don't take orders from you. Pulos is the General."

I gave a small smile, and pulled out a crossbow. "Pulos... is dead. Along with pretty much everyone in the tower. Now..." I pointed the arrow at the shocked pillager. "Bring. Me. The. Greifer."

He nodded hurriedly and ran off. A moment later, he brought a man in black robes and a hood that covered most of his face with him. I bowed my head to him.

"Aidan_Hei, I am sorry to disappoint you, but the agreement with your leader is off with our outpost. We are pulling out of the mission."

Aidan turned his head to the forest, where the Crafter and the Human ran off. "Let me guess. The Eldest gave you another mission?"

I pulled a book and showed him the contents. "I found this the other day, lying on the floor. He wants it done as soon as possible."

Aidan looked the book over, and nodded slowly. "All seems to be in order. Looks like you're going to need to have someone get the required materials."

I shrugged and looked back at the forest. "We've got to get to work. It'll take a long time to fully finish the project."

A faint trace of a smile was seen under the hood. "Yes... we do."

* * *

[Alex]

"The _fuck _was that?" I asked angrily, storming up the hill behind Athara. She froze up suddenly and turned around. A look of confusion took her face over as she asked, "What was what?"

"You know exactly what happened!" I growled. "You left _me _behind!"

Another look went over her face - recognition - and she sighed. "Oh, that."

"_Oh, that?_" I walked straight up to her, face to face. Athara didn't move from the spot and looked at me in the eye.

"Yes, Crafter. _That. _If you can't handle yourself, then who are you to survive? I had to make sure that you were-"

I walked right past her, barely listening. Athara grabbed my wrist and spun me around. Her orange eyes seemed to smolder with flames, although I had a feeling that was just a side thing of her anger.

"Listen to me," She said coolly. "When I'm talking to you. I have more experience then you, and can safely say that you aren't going to have your Crafter powers saving your ass. _Learn _how to survive, because the rest of us aren't as lucky."

I pulled my hand back, but didn't try to pursue the arguement. She has made a good point. We walked on in silence, only setting camp until we were a comfortable distance from the outpost.

* * *

I pondered the crafting table, something in the back of my mind telling me that our 'camp' was missing something.

I took out Gimero's stone axe and chopped down some wood. I turned some into sticks, and went back to the 3x3 grid. I put three planks on the bottom, then sticks on either side of the second line of the grid and on the middle top. Turning to Athara, I asked "Do you have any coal?"

Surprise even to mock me, she passed me a stack. I placed one in the center, and_ bam. _An Item popped into my inventory: [Campfire].

I placed it down in between our two 'houses', which were about as elegant as Gimero's old house. Athara gave a tiny gasp as the lines up logs created a classic campfire.

"...Well, looks like the 14th Update added more then Villages and Pillages." She smiled slightly in the fire light. "Reminds me the first time me and Sileeno tried to make a functional campfire..."

[Pete the Pillager]

Me and Aidan stood on top of the Pillager outpost tower. I looked out into the wilderness as Aidan paced around behind me, muttering "How do we do this... how do we do this...

I turned to him, exasperated. "When I said we've got to get to work, I didn't mean this second. It's practically midnight, probably past that."

Aidan spun towards me, his cloak trailing him like the Grim Reaper. "When the master says to start working, we obey his wishes. I don't care what you think. He's promised me abilities worthy of a Crafter!"

I raised my eyebrows at this detail. "You know the danger's of messing with one's code, correct?"

"SHUT U- The hell is that!?" Aidan yelled. I spun around to see what he was looking at - a pillar of smoke, rising in the sky. A campfire. I smirked and turned to Aidan. "Looks like the hunt for the 14th Crafter isn't quite over yet. We found ourselves a little mistake."

Aidan turned and swiftly ran down the stairs, but I stayed up on the top floor, looking at that pillar in the sky.

"I actually hope you survive, Alex." I whispered to myself. "It will be so... satisfying for you to see what my associates have in stock for your future."

* * *

[Alex]

"Who is Sileeno?" I asked Athara, as she stared into the fire.

"Hmm? Oh! He's my husband." She answered. Taking out a gold ingot, she showed it to me. "Since, ah, Minecraftia doesn't have any things that resemble rings, we use the next best thing - a gold ingot."

I nodded, yawning quietly. "How long have you two been married?"

Athara closed her eyes, and changed her beige pants to a black. Opening her eyes, she pondered the question. "About... 84 years? Humans live for a long time."

That word surprised me. "Humans? But... Gimero said that we're called Villagers and Crafters."

She smiled. "Well, Gimero isn't exactly the greatest to learn from, from the time I've been with him. Humans were the main peoples. We spawn every three days or so."

"Were?" I asked. Athara sighed and looked into the fire light. Shaking her head, she closed her eyes. "It's... a long story. Maybe I'll tell you tomorrow."

I rolled my left shoulder, and told her "Well, it's pretty much past midnight. We should get to bed."

Athara nodded and leaned back on her chair. "You go ahead. I'll keep watch."

Before I went to bed, I turned to her and asked, "Who was the first human?"

Athara took a deep breath. "His name was Herobrine. He... is a story for another time."

I gave a worried look at her and entered the wooden box that passed for a shelter. Crawling onto a bed she supplied for me, I passed out in a record time. It was pretty much bliss.

* * *

[Athara]

After Alex went to sleep, I stayed up to keep watch, since I wasn't so tired. Looking through the smoke, I absentmindedly played with an arrow in my hand, looking through the smoke from the campfire. Really, it did let off more smoke then a normal fire... then it hit me.

_Shit!_

I quickly took out my axe and broke the fire, but it had been up for an hour or so. They would've seen it a long time ago. Turning to Alex's tent, I whipped out my bow and shook her awake.

"Hmm?" She asked me sleepily. "I feel like it's only been ten minutes."

"That's because it _has been_!" I whispered angrily. "The campfire was nice and all, but it's sent up a smoke signal! We need to go to a different spot-"

An arrow flew straight at me, but I twirled out of the way and shot my own into the general area. A curse rang out, telling me I hit one. Alex rolled off the head and raised her shield, blocking another arrow. She pulled the shaft out.

Doing the first thing that came to mind, I gave Alex a shovel. "Dig downwards! The forest has a plethora of caves under it, there's bound to be one under us!"

Taking it, she hit rock and switched to a pickaxe. Looking up at me, she asked "You aren't coming?"

"I would if I could, but right now, some one needs to block your exit." I shot another arrow into the woods, hitting yet another pillager. To stop Alex's arguing, I shut her in darkness with a dirt block to block the pillager from entering her hole.

"Never dig straight down, they say." I muttered to myself. "Well, sometimes that's all you got."

* * *

[Alex]

Finding a cave was about as hard as finding the outpost.

Needless to say, It took about 15 blocks downward to slam into a pond underwater.

Disoriented, I managed to swim upwards and climb onto the stone floor of the sml tunnel. I coughed up water, and looked down at my soaking clothes.

Well, time for another outfit. I imagined myself in a faded gray tank top, jean shorts, and black boots. As Athara would put it, the Tomb Raider had returned. Fixing my braid, I took out my crafting table and thought deeply about light. Namely, torches.

Considering the campfire, it took me about two seconds to learn that sticks and coal was the recipe. Because Minecraftia, when I held a torch in my hand, nothing happened. Placing it on the floor, however, illuminated the cavern just fine.

I'm going to have words with whoever made this world. Still, light was existant, and I made 20 torches moving further into the cave. Consulting Gimero's map, which still had a white blob as my marker, it told me I was moving away from Lafor.

But, as the only way forward, I refused to break to the surface and continued through the cave system. The tunnel led downwards, to some sort of light. It was cut off at a drop, and I didn't want to risk jumping down. I looked for a way down the hole, and my whole body tensed.

A woman ran right past the shaft, too fast to make out any sort of defining feature. I looked up and down the walls, and saw a pathway of rocks that I could jump from. I slid down to the first outcropping, then leaped to the next rock. I dropped to the ground, and took off in the direction of the woman's path.

"Hey!" I called after her. My voice echoed down the endless tunnels. I turned the corner and managed to stop myself. In front of me, a wave of lava blocked the tunnel.

Using my dirt, I built a passageway over the liquid death. I jumped the rest of the way and rolled, coming up on my feet. I looked down a steep tunnel, where a faint yellow glow illuminated something I couldn't see. Kneeling down, I stepped onto on of the blocked that tailed the way down.

Looking up, I saw a flicker of green. I promptly raised my sword and held it towards the creature. Some sort of bright green creature fell down beside me with a sad face and started to flash white. I swung at it, but mid-swing it exploded.

I was on a steep platform.

I flew right down the tunnel, straight into the darkness. It only took a couple of seconds before the ground caught up.

* * *

**BanjoNote: Well, shorter chapter then usual. I got real busy, with doctors appointments and a certain friend calling me for DnD (_ahem, John)_**

**Anyways, the Road to Pillage Arc is almost over! Next Arc is one of my favorite Arcs planned, top three easy!**

**Between Arcs, I may have a long break in between. Because the Road to Pillage has shorter chapters, the break between the first two arcs will be extremely short, maybe even non-existent!**

**I did say I was going to tell you guys the Arc name come this chapter, so here's the Name: The Broken Arc! I think it's one of the better names.**

**Next Chapter: Enter the Hold! Until then, Read, Review, Favourite and Follow! As always, Banjo On!**


	10. Enter the Hold

_Chapter 8_

_Enter the Hold..._

**BanjoNote: Sunday is here! For those of you who forgot, Sundays are my new Update day. Update? Get it?**

**It's really hard not to burn my eyes off whenever I see that.**

**Now, now. These chapters are fairly short, only 2k words each. Is it bad? By the Nether, it's _very _bad. Come the Broken Arc, chapters are going to hopefully be longer, so something to look for!**

**Another happy thing: There is a confirmed chapter number for Update: Pillage! 100 chapters exactly!** **It's Fate, baby!**

**This Chapter _does _have references to suicide. I won't rate it M, because it's only a slight reference. I, in no way, endorse this behavior. If my story is that bad, then contact me.**

**Anyways, Time to Enter the Hold!**

* * *

**_BanjoMano sure as fuck wishes he owned Minecraft. He doesn't._**

* * *

[????????]

All I wanted was to find a prophecy that fated the apocalypse. Instead, I found the falling girl.

I was investigating the area where the tunnel ended when I turned my gaze upward. A loud explosion noise echoed down the stone walls, followed by a falling woman, cursing her lungs out of her chest.

Sighing, I stuck out a hand and grabbed her wrist. In a small _snap! _noise, the two of us faded out of existence.

We reappeared near a wall, and the woman flew out of my grasp and slammed into the stone. She promptly was knocked unconscious, and the shock of the hit changed her clothes into her base outfit- a green tee, brown pants and black boots. Taking out one of my unnecessary cobblestone stacks, I started to block off the wall that allowed passageway to the two of us, then placed two torches on either side of the room.

"Well, yet another life saved." I muttered to myself. "Maybe they'll want an autograph with the 10th Crafter."

Checking my clock, I placed down a bed on the opposite end of the shelter from the girl, and fell asleep."

* * *

[Alex]

You'd think that because I'm a Crafter, I'd get visions or whatnot.

I didn't, for your information. I'd like to keep it that way.

The moments before I was knocked unconscious were fuzzy. I remember a hand grabbing my wrist and a face full of plain, gray stone. In other words, I saw my luck in physical form.

I woke up in a gray room, bereft of anything save a bed, two torches, and another person.

"Hey, you." She turned to me. "You're finally awake."

I resisted the urge to sock her right in the face, which took steel power I didn't know I had. Breathing in deeply, I took the girl in. Black hair that fell down a little past her shoulders. Hazel eyes that pierced my gaze. A grey zipper hoodie that was unzipped, showing a white undershirt. A normal pair of jeans, and some black sneakers.

I sat up from my makeshift stone bed. "And who are you?"

She frowned at me. "I should be asking you. After all, it's the least you owe me, since I saved your life."

I could feel my temperature rising. "If you could call leaving me on a stone floor 'saving'. My name is Alex. I'm a Crafter."

She gave me a surprised look, then said "Oh. Another Crafter."

"_Anoth-"_ I sputtered. "You've met another Crafter?"

She laughed, a hearty one that really made me feel bad for getting mad at her. "No, no. I mean, I have in the past, but not recently. I'm the 10th Crafter, Yara'lyn."

I stood there, staring at her. It took me a full 10 seconds to realize that I should say something.

"I - uh, oh." I mumbled. Eloquent, I know.

Yara'lyn leaned on the wall, picking at her nails. "Well? What's your power?"

That question shook me out of my stupor.

"I have no idea." I said honestly. "I've been getting random surges, but I'm getting mixed signals." I had a question of my own. "What's yours?"

"Teleportation, for the basics. Some other passive stuff, like I take no fall damage."

I remembered the event at the Outpost. "Wait - I can teleport also, supposedly." I told her. Yara'lyn stood upright and looked me up and down.

Slowly, she leaned forward and investigated me. "Are... you sure you're telling the truth? Wouldn't be the first wannabe I've met."

Okay, she got _right _back on my nerves.

"No!" I shouted angrily. "I know what I saw. I was knocked off the tower, and then in the blink of an eye, I was back at the top."

"...sure. Haven't heard _that _one before." She smiled. "Look, you can just -"

I felt a spark of lightning run up my spine. I thrust out my hand, and a tendril of white lightning shot out at lightning. Yara snapped her fingers and disappeared, appearing right beside me.

"Convincing." She merely said. "That isn't my power, however."

I fell to a knee, suddenly very dizzy. "...who's power is it?"

Yara looked down at me, a look of confusion crossing her face. "Your angry one moment, curious the next? Weird side-effect, if you ask me."

Now it was _my _turn to look confused. "Side-effect? Our powers have side effects?"

She helped me up to my feet and started to break camp. "I'll tell you as we go. But I'll tell you this - that lightning power? That's my brother's power. BanjoMano."

* * *

"A day and a HALF?"

I looked down at Gimero's clock. Angrily, I stuffed it into my belt pouch and turned to Yara.

"And why didn't you tell me this sooner?" I asked through gritted teeth. Yara shrugged. "It never came up."

Why do people always say that? I feel waking up, in general, would bring up that topic.

Now that we were trudging down the dark caves, she decided to tell me just how long I was out.

Gimero would be arriving at Lafor, if I was correct. Athara would... I had no idea.

"I need to get to Lafor," I explained to her. "So... perhaps you could, I don't know, teleport me or something?"

Tilting her head in my direction, she shook her head. "After I get what I'm looking for. There should be a stronghold in here somewhere..."

"Stronghold?" I frowned. "Underground? Doesn't that feel a bit redundant? The hell are you defending against?"

Yara shrugged. "I mean, no Crafter or Human built these. They were randomly found across the world."

"What about Villagers? Did they build these?" I pondered, but Yara snorted.

"Did you seriously ju- I keep on forgetting that you're new to Minecraftia." She took out a pickaxe and mined a nearby Iron ore vein. "Villagers weren't always able to build and craft things like me and you. There was... a war, I suppose you could call it. A group of Humans decided that they were the superior race, and they killed anyone who opposed them. Also known as basically everyone."

"Where were the Crafters?" I asked quietly, not wanting to know the answer.

"Most were busy, rolling in there power and wealth." She sighed. "This was before my time. I was spawned about 20 or so years after the aftermath was dealt with. Look, the point is, a Crafter sacrificed himself so Villagers were equals to Humans. So Villagers couldn't have built the strongholds."

A Crafter... _sacrificed _himself to... I didn't understand how that could work, but at the same time, trees can float. Whatever the stronghold had, it was probably also mind blowing.

Which reminded me. "What're we looking for in this stronghold?"

Yara stayed silent as the cave went downwards once more, hitting some sort of blackish stone. She took out an... was that _an eyeball? _And chucked it into the air. It sailed straight ahead, slamming into gray bricks on the wall. She smiled and grabbed my wrist, teleporting toward the other side of the wall.

This time, I kept my footing, though barely. Looking at my arm, I saw that it was slightly faded, translucent. I did the natural thing - I panicked.

Yara watched as I jumped around, bemused. When I finally calmed down, She walked right past me and kneeled down, investigating something on the floor.

"Wha... what the actual hell was that?" I demanded, though it wasn't that intimidating. She looked over her shoulder at me, still with the outline of a smile on her face. "Remember what I said about side-effects? My power is not exactly teleporting. Basically, what I do is I rip you apart and then rebuild you in a different spot. Sometimes the rebuilding takes longer. Once I was stuck in one place for 2 days, though I did try to teleport across half the world."

"That makes me feel so much better." I mumbled. "And what was my side-effect? You sounded like you knew it."

"Your side effect is that your emotions change quickly, which isn't a great thing. People can manipulate them, just as I was and _am _doing, making you angry. I'm surprised you didn't realize I was teasing you."

"You were -" I stopped myself before I released a nuke or something. "Is there any way to control them?"

Once again, she ignored me. Standing up, she opened up a door and left me behind. I scurried after her, but before I caught up, an arrow whizzed past my ear, hitting Yara in the leg. She pulled out the arrow and turned around, her eyes at me.

"Did you just -"

"Look, I hate you, but I don't hate you _that _much. Besides, I wouldn't hit you the leg."

_Twang!_

Yara dove to the side and took out a rapier. Looking down at my blade, I wondered how she got a rapier.

Seeing my confusion, she pushed me aside and ran at the general direction on which the arrow had been shot. Turning the corner, I heard the rattle of bones, and Yara walked out of the corridor, fixing her jacket.

"Rapier?" I asked, gesturing to the weapon in her hand. She raised it up and looked at the steel blade. "It's something called a Tinker's weapon. Most Crafter's have one."

It didn't really help much, but I immediately lost interest. Must've been the emotions thing.

I pulled out my crossbow and walked up to her. She eyed the weapon, then up to me. "I've never seen anything like a crossbow before. Some sort of new -"

I seized up. "A crossbow is a new inclusion to 1.14, also known as Village and Pillage. They can be found on Pillagers - see appendix B - and have a dropping rate of 8.5 percent chance on said Mob. They take 1.253 seconds to load, in which the player will be forced to move at sneaking speed and can complete no other actions. You cannot release the arrow prematurely, as said arrow-"

Yara smacked me on the face. "Snap out of it."

I obliged, shaking off the minor headache I got. Spitting the wikipedia out of my mouth, I asked "How the hell do I know that?"

"It's a Crafter thing." Yara explained. "We know everything that our update brings to Minecraftia. I got polar bears."

"Polar - okay." I stopped myself before I sent Yara into a seizure. "That's interesting. So I know everything in my update?"

She nodded. "You also know the name of the Update. Village and Pillage? Long name, if you ask me. Mine was simple: Frostburn."

_Why didn't I get a cool name? _I wondered to myself. "And your brother? What was his update?"

She snorted. "Everything in 1.12 was useless, and Banjo knows that. Come on, Alex." she continued into the hallways of the stronghold.

I gave a shrug, and followed her through the many tunnels, most of them practically useless, raising my crossbow in preparation for an attack. Yara looked over her shoulder, slowing down to allow me to catch up.

"I did say that I'd tell you a bit more about Crafters," She started. "I guess the first thing that I should tell you is that Alex isn't your name."

I turned to her on my heel. "I'm pretty sure it is. Someone whispered it to me when I was spawning."

She rolled her eyes. "Alright, fine. It's not your _full _name. You have a last name, and Alex is part of your first name. Your last name defines your power."

I pondered that, nodding once I made sense of it. "I mean, it doesn't really affect anything. What's your last name?"

Yara smiled. "Phase. Yara'lyn Phase. I learned it a month after I spawned, which is quicker than most Crafters. Typically, It takes a month and a half, maybe 2 months."

Oh. _Oh. _"It takes two months to master the power?" I asked, hoping I didn't sound too dejected.

Yara turned around and dispatched an attacking zombie in a couple of swipes. "You typically learn your power within the first week, if that's what you're whining about."

I could feel my heat rising. "I'm not whining!"

"You so are."

"So _not!_" I was totally whining.

She dropped the subject, peering into a room. Tired of staying in the dark, I pushed the question I asked earlier. "Why are we here?"

She sighed, her shoulder depressing. "The 6th Crafter, Solomun Vision, was rumored to have the power to look into the future. He died on the day of the 12th Update, supposedly jumped off a cliff."

"That's _awful!__" _I stated, horrified. "Why would one -"

"Ask such a question?" Yara glared at me. "He could see the _future. _Some say he saw the end of the world. The same people who say that believe he wrote 2 prophecies, and I'm looking for one."

Mentally calming myself, I breathed in deeply. "So what's this prophecy?"

It was her turn to calm herself down. "If I knew what it was, I wouldn't be here, would I?"

That was a fair point. I bit my tongue. Yara closed the door and looked into the room on the other side. "It's supposedly called the 'Ballad of Beyond'. Someone in Lafor told me that I could find a clue to it's whereabouts, even a passage in 'The Fortress under the Forest'."

_Nice ring to that._ I thought, deciding that Yara probably wouldn't appreciate any humor from my mouth.

"Come on," She muttered, more to herself then to me. "We've got to keep moving."

And I followed her into the stronghold, wondering what the Ballad might hold in store for the future of Minecraftia.

* * *

**BanjoNote: Talking. Lots and lots of talking.**

**But overall, I would consider this chapter to be the most important chapter in the Road to Pillage Arc. It introduces Yara'lyn Phase, who will be _very _important later on. But not in the way any of you will expect! ;)**

**Next, Alex learns a bit about Crafter's! Alex isn't even her full name! What is it? Well... I'll tell you in a decade, at the rate these chapters pop out.**

**Lastly,** **the Ballad of Beyond? Is it made by the same person who predicted the other Prophecy? Could be. They'll both pop up again, as prophecies tend to do. You might've read some Rick Riordan novels. They sure _love _them prophecies.**

**Now, y'all might've seen something on my Profile. The Fall: An Update Story is going to be refreshed! This time, we'll follow the origins of BanjoMano, the 12th Crafter. Unlike this story, the point of The Fall is to make you guys laugh and cry, with sadness and comedy. It will be tagged Family/Friendship and Humour, as opposed to Adventure.** **The first _3 _chapters will be released at one time, since they're short as _fuck._**

**Next Chapter: The Jewel of the Plains! The final chapter to the Road to Pillage Arc. Expect action for Alex, comedy from Gimero, and tragedy from Athara! It won't be too long** **of a chapter, because I _really _want to start the Broken Arc!** **It also will come out today! Two chapters in one day? At the rate I've been writing. I'm practically finished, I just have to edit it!**

**Long BanjoNote. Read, Review, Favourite and Follow! As always, Banjo On!**


	11. The Jewel of the Plains

_Chapter 9: Arc Finale_

_The Jewel of the Plains_

**BanjoNote: Hoooooooo! IT'S OVER! WE DID IT! The Road to Pillage Arc is over!****_Deep Breath - _YEAH!**

**Two chapters in one day? Kudos to a friend who told me it was perfectly fine. This is what friends are for!**

**I don't want to keep you up. Let's start this chapter... _with Athara!?_**

* * *

**_BanjoMano does not own Minecraft. Did you really think I did?_**

* * *

[Athara]

At least I slept.

I woke up on my extremely comfortable bed of leaves and twigs, brushing my shoulder-length hair out of my face. My clothes had taken a darker turn, more of a mahogany instead of a red. I switched my iron armour with a chainmail, as it allowed the most maneuverability. Looking below me, I saw the pillagers laying on the trees, sleeping still. I took out my dagger and leaped to the next tree, careful not to make a sound.

"Going somewhere?" Said a familiar voice.

Whirling around, I was looking at Aidan_Hei. I threw my dagger at him, but he quickly sidestepped the projectile. Picking it up from the leaves, he tossed it into the ground in front of me.

"You dropped this." He remarked, dry humor in his voice. I gave him a disgusted look and kneeled down to pick it up. "Aidan, why the _fuck _are you here?" I snarled, taking out my bow. He shifted his robe and sat down. How do the kids call it? Criss Cross Apple Sauce?

Kids are retarded.

"To be honest, I didn't even know you were up here!" He exclaimed. "I was looking for... what's her name? Alex? So, have you seen her?"

I nocked an arrow and held it to him. "I'm not telling you shit, Aidan. This ended at Quersit, and you're lucky I didn't nail you in the neck with an arrow back then."

"Ah yes... Quersit. A shithole, if you ask me. It really _did _deserve to burn down, in my opinion."

"Where is Redonath?" I pushed, advancing with the bow still ready. "I see you aren't following him like a dog still."

He shrugged, a weird postion in a cloak and sitting like a kindergartener. "I mean, he's busy in Anaklos. Y'know, with the master coming back and all. You could come with me again. Just like old times."

"Ol-" I sputtered with anger. "WE NEVER KILLED ANYONE IN THE _'OLD TIMES', _AIDAN!" I yelled. I let loose the arrow into his chest, which promptly made him fall over.

"Well," He coughed, and pulled out an arrow. "At least I tried. Good thing I have some minor powers from the Eldest."

Whipping my dagger out, I ran straight at him. He rolled to the right, and took out a sword. He raised it over his head, and swung it towards me.

* * *

[Alex]

"It's got to be in here somewhere..." Yara muttered to herself, angrily shutting the last door in the hallway. I pointed the opposite way.

"Well, if it is or isn't," I remarked. "Our destination is that way. So we should get moving."

Giving me a dark look, she stormed off in that direction. I resigned to follow her, though I had no intention in getting in her way.

We ran straight towards a dead end, and Yara swore worse then Samuel Jackson.

"FUCK!" She yelled, slamming her fist into a stone brick wall.

The sound echoed throughout the hallway, way louder then it should have. I looked around us, wondering what made the noise so loud.

Yara looked at me as if I had some sort of disease. "What's wrong? You look... unnaturally pale."

"I... do?" I wondered, looking at my arms. Sure enough, they were snow-white.

"Wha..." I began, but just then... pain.

I felt as if someome just stabbed my head with a white-hot spike. The crossbow fell from my hand, And I fell to a knee.

"Alex!" Yara ran up to me, panic in her eyes. Looking around, she tried to find whoever did this to me.

"No one's -" I winced, causing Yara's eyes to fall down to me.

Words started to float around my sight, and I started to take random words that I saw.

"Music of Thunder," I mumbled. "Heat of Flame."

She gave a concerned look, then realization shone in her eyes. "Alex! Keep speaking!"

"Mansion of Peace, One without Shame." I started to speak a bit louder. The more I spoke, it felt like someone was pushing the spike deeper, but I kept chanting words like there was no tommorow.

"Cowardice is Key," I looked up at Yara, who wrapped an arm to stabilize me. "Enter the Dark!"

She nodded, putting them to memory. "You got this. Just one more verse."

"Find the Gem!" I was practically screaming to hear the words over the sound of blood rushing through my body. "BREAK THE ARC!"

And with that, I collapsed in a heap, tears of pain gushing down my face. Yara brushed a tear away, shrugging as another one took it's place.

"I understand now." She muttered to herself. "You were the clue. Not some ancient tome."

I choked back the last of the tears and sat up. I still had a searing headache, but I managed to pull out the words "So what now?"

"Now... I guess we try to pull apart that prophecy." Yara pulled out a book and quill and wrote down the lines. Pausing at 'Shame', she looked at the verse and swore.

"Fucking Nether, it can't be." She rushed the rest of the book, signed her name on the cover, and stuffed it in her pocket. "I think I know where to go next."

Remembering the verses, I quoted myself. "Mansion of Peace? What the hell is that, though?"

She smiled, though it was a pained one. "I have to go to my brothers mansion. The BanjoManor."

* * *

[Gimero]

"Emeralds, please!" The guard at the gates called. "If you have no emeralds, then you cannot enter!"

"Bu- but I must be on the list!" One man argued at the beginning of the line. "Check the B's, I must be in the B's!"

"Pal," A female guard walked up. "You're obviously not in the list. The fee is but 5 emeralds, so pay up."

I frowned at that. "What list? Am I required to be on a list?"

A nearby man in line snorted. "If you want to get into town free, you can have an important person in town let you in. Hell, you can just have a Crafter tag you in, if you know one!" He laughed. "But no one here in line knows a Crafter."

Oh. _Oh. _

Where is Alex when you need her?

I stood in line for half an hour, waiting as people lied about knowing people in town or knowing a Crafter. One even claimed to be the 7th Crafter, Fade, before being told that Fade died decades ago.

That was a high bluff to pull.

Finally, when it came to my turn, the guard held up a book and asked, "Name?"

"I am Gimero, and this is Josie."

"I'M JOSIE!"

"Race?"

"Villager and Iron Golem."

"I'M THE IRON GOLEM!"

"Proffesion for the Villager?"

"Wandering Trader."

He looked up, adjusting his glasses. "Nice try. That's not a profession."

"Uh... it was added for the new update." I explained, and he nodded with understanding.

"Right on. Do you have any people you know within Lafor?"

I thought about that. "I'm meeting up with some friends. Athara, a human, and Alex, a Crafter."

He coughed, choking on saliva. "That's a tall tale. Athara? She's practically the most famous woman in Lafor. You're going to need some proof of that, and second of all, a _Crafter!?_"

"Alex is the 14th Crafter. We kinda got separated, after some..." I shuddered. Notch, even _remembering _the outpost gave me the chills. "...Events. Look, I can pay you -"

As soon as I took out my stack of emeralds, a man wearing complete black leather armour snatched it right out of my hands and ran towards the forest. Before the guards could react, an arrow pierced his leg and tripped him.

Athara stepped out of the forest, her bow raised. Picking up the stack of emeralds, she stepped up to me and handed it over. I took it gratefully, stuffed it in my backpack, and realized someone was missing.

"Where's Alex?" I asked. Athara sighed and shrugged.

"We got separated. The campfire we set up, for some reason, sent up a smoke plume."

"A-Athara! You know this young man?" The guard stumbled over his words. He quickly scurried something into the book and waved us through.

"And uh, Athara," He stopped her. "The inn is serving their special potatoes. They're using something called a steamer, and they taste positively divine!" His face went dreamy, then realized who he was talking to.

"Oh, uh... I'll get back to this."

She gave him a pained smile. "You'd better."

We walked into the city, which was just as impressive as the walls, maybe even more. The roads were made of stone bricks, well kept yet having a comforting rustic sense to them as well. The buildings looked like they came straight out of a fantasy world, with inn's and even a church to the Crafters. The Castle rose above the city, now even more imposing. I saw lime green banners with a head of a horse, the symbol of the plains of Morvin.

I looked at Athara. She was dirtier then the last time I saw her, and her clothes now were a darker colour. A scar lined the left side of her face, narrowly missing her eyes.

I began to twist the gold rings on each of my hands. "So... potatoes?" I asked, trying not to sound too wistful. "I haven't eaten anything good since... wow. Like, ever."

She sighed. "Fine. I'll tell you what happened, but you pay. Then we get to Sileeno; I have to talk to him about Alex."

* * *

[Athara]

I rolled to the right and kicked off the tree at the very edge of a leaves block, flipping up and around. I landed on another tree and fired an arrow at him, nicking his arm.

"Your aims gone sloppy, Athara!" He leaped at me, higher then what he should have been able to.

Landing right beside me, I twisted my body to avoid a fist. I stuck a leg out and swept it, knocking him on his face.

I stabbed a dagger in his back, jumping onto his back as he got up. Stumbling around like an oaf, he walked right off the tree. I leaped off his back and rolled, taking no fall damage due to feather fall.

"Equara, you're making this harder then it needs to -"

"DON'T CALL ME EQUARA!" I roared, charging at him. He swung his sword, cutting a gash across my face, but by that time I was intent on killing him.

I leaped towards a tree and vaulted off of it, reaching for my dagger that was stuck in his back. I felt my hands wrap around the hilt, and I ripped it upwards. Aidan grunted in pain and fell to a knee. I slid 5 blocks to his left, burning a part of my legs. I brushed off some grass stains and whipped my dagger at his neck. The second it connect, Aidan toppled over and disappeared.

I grabbed my dagger and some of his loot Picking up his head, I held it in my hand and said "My name is not Equara, bitch. I lost that name the second I joined the Greifers."

Stuffing it into my belt, I muttered to myself, "Redonath, you're next."

* * *

[Alex]

Yara helped me to my feet once I was able to stand. "I'm going to assume you're not coming with me." She presumed. I sighed and nodded.

"I promised some friends that I'd go to Lafor." I told her. Yara nodded and grabbed my wrist.

"What-" I started, but then the world went fuzzy and reformed.

We were in an alleyway, dark and alone. My body was practically see through, but I controlled my breathing, trying not to panic again. When I turned to Yara, I recoiled in shock.

Not only was she translucent, but I could see the faint outline of rapidly changing characters from a computer, like someone hacked into her system. She stood there, completely still, until the characters faded away and moved her arms.

"Sorry, I don't usually give people taxi rides." She gave me a grin. "I normally could've jumped ud here with no problem, but Crafters are problematic. Their code is built differently then... pretty much anyone else."

_So this is Lafor? _I thought to myself. "How long are you going to rest here?" I asked her, worried. "I don't think that traveling with a Crafter into a big city is a great idea."

"Maybe an hour, maybe two." She waved her hand. "Go on. Find a man known as Sileeno, he'll help you with your powers."

"Sileeno? Athara's husband?" I remembered the campfire. "I guess that's a good first place to look."

She smiled at me. "Well? Your long journey is hella long from being finished, but I can safely tell you that you're on the right track."

I gave Yara a last nod, and stepped out into the main road of Lafor.

* * *

**BanjoNote: One of the shortest chapters yet, but two chapters in one day! What do you want!!**

**_Sobs in a corner_.**

**Anyways, the highlight of the finale is Alex's prophecy. For those of you who want it written down in a row, here you are:**

**_Music of Thunder, Heat of Flame_**

**_Mansion of Peace, One without Shame_**

**_Cowardice is Key, Enter the Dark_**

**_Find the Gem, Break the Arc_**

**I knew that there was going to be a prophecy, but I made that up on the spot. Pretty good, am I right?**

**...right?**

**Anyways, this week or next, I'm putting up the first three chapters of The Fall: An Update Story! In fact, here's a little clip from the first chapter!**

* * *

_Chapter 1: Chasing Waterfalls_

The first sensation was falling.

The next sensation was realizing that I was, in fact, _not _falling.

I was three seconds into my life, and I was already confused.

The world was black. Darkness surrounded me, but I saw a palette of colours swirling around me. I turned my head, and they followed my gaze.

That's when I realized my eyes were closed.

I opened them.

Expecting an explosion of colours, I mentally prepared myself for a meltdown. Instead of colours, I was on top of a mountain. It was cold, and I shivered as I looked down the valley.

I was on top of a large mountain, a snow-covered stone valley stretching around me. A large _boom!_ followed by an explosion of white snow. Frowning, I began to walk down the mountain before a question popped up into my head.

_The hell is my name? _I wondered. I stared into the snowy air, and I shrugged.

"First thing that pops to my mind'll be my name!" I proclaimed, then a voice called back at me.

_Banjo..._

Perfect.

* * *

**Ah yes. Exactly how you choose names.**

**Next Chapter: The Engineer, The Merchant, and the Crafter! We start the Broken Arc!**

**Read, Review, Favourite and Follow! And, as always, Banjo-on!**


	12. The Engineer, the Merchant, the Crafter

_Chapter 10: Beginning of tbe Broken Arc_

**BanjoNote: Ah, yes. The Broken Arc is here! One of the most important Arcs in Update: Pillage**! **I** **am also disappointed to announce that The Fall is delayed for... an unknown amount of time. I apologize for the inconvenience. _But, _I am working on a Fanfic project, one I'm sure you guys will enjoy.**

**Well, if you like Percy Jackson. More on that _next _chapter.**

**Also, at the beginning of each Arc, I will post Stats for the last Arc. Here are the State for Road to Pillage:**

**_Longest Chapter:_ Jailbreak Part 2: The Struggle of Power! 3,306 words.**

**_Shortest Chapter__: _Alone! 2,232 words.**

**_Banjo's Favorite Chapter: _Enter the Hold, for the backstory.**

**Let's get this Arc started!**

* * *

**_BanjoMano does not own Minecraft. Seriously, this is starting to get out of hand._**

* * *

[Alex]

"Buy your armour here!"

"Need some company? Buy your pets in Chang'e's pet shelter!"

I walked down the main street, marveling the beauty of the straight-out-of-DD look of the city. People crowded at stalls, buying goods or auctioning rare materials. I saw a person auctioning a grass block, which shocked me, since I always got dirt whenever I punched the ground.

...that's a sad sentence.

I pushed past people, working my way up to a guard and waved his attention.

He turned to me. "Eh? Need directions?"

I nodded. "Uh, yeah. I need directions to Sileeno. Do you know where I could find him."

He chuckled. "How many people are going to say bullshit things today? I heard that there was a man at the gates earlier who claimed to be friends with a Crafter!"

A spark went up my spine. "Blue clothing? Lots of jewelry, came with an iron golem?"

He scowled. "Wait- how did you know that?"

"_Gimero,_" I muttered under my breath. "Look, I'm the 14th Crafter. If you doubt it, ask me something about this new Update."

He eyed me. "I've heard reports that new structures have been popping up all around Minecraftia. Tell me what those are."

As if waiting for a chance, I spat out "Pillager outposts are semi-rare structures able to spawn in most biomes of which villages appear in. They have a rare chance to spawn within a village, due to the current Bedrock Edition state Minecraftia is currently in. I have seen tendency to enslave Villagers to create more impressive towers, as well as -"

I managed to hold my tongue, and looked around me. People had stopped to look at me, and they whispered as if I couldn't hear them.

"_Is that-"_

_"Must be. Not even Sileeno could hide himself that well."_

_"I can't believe it!"_

The guard stepped in front of me and yelled "She is coming with me to the Lafor Command Center. If any of you follow, you will be charged 50 emeralds. If you fail to pay, then you will be charged a week in prison. Understood?"

Not waiting for an answer, he gestured for me to follow. Naturally, I didn't want to stay in a mob of fans, so I ran after him.

* * *

[Athara]

"And that's the story." I finished. Gimero digged into his steak and potatoes, nodding furiously.

I looked down at my chicken, not having much of an appetite. I left out all the parts that mentioned me being a Greifer, replacing it with some other story. Looking at the way Gimero was feasting, however, I doubt he would have heard it.

I also left out the part about Equara. What I said to Aidan was true - That wasn't my name anymore. Gimero was lucky to have a full normal name, not some half ass name with underscores.

What kind of cruel god made it so I had to have an underscore in my name?

Gimero let out a large belch and looked around hurriedly. I laughed halfheartedly and noted "Y'know, for a coward, you are fairly brave in social situations."

He shrugged. "I guess it's part of my job, trading things and so on."

I bit off a part of the chicken and tossed the rest of it into the composting bin near the door, despite Gimero's horrified look.

The bartender, Otis_Sito sighed. "Why do you waste my cooking, lady Athara?"

I shrugged miserably. "I guess I didn't have an appetite. Now, if you'll excuse me-"

I ran out of the inn as fast as I could, not letting anyone see my face.

* * *

[Gimero]

Otis huffed. "She didn't even pay."

I took out 9 emeralds and slid it across the counter. His eyes glinted when he saw the gems.

"The meal was only 3 emeralds, sir." He reminded me with hope in his voice.

"Yeah, but I'm super rich." I told him. "Keep the extra as tip. It was... well, it was the best meal I've had ever since I've spawned."

He noticed the sarcasm in my voice and frowned. "Is that a joke?"

"No!" I mended my statement. "It was still absolutely divine. It's just - I spawned three to four days ago."

"Ah!" He chuckled. "Now I understand! Haha!"

"Yeah, uh..." I was thrown off my course, then I remembered what I was going to do. I slid five emeralds across the table and said "One room, two people. I'll pay you later for the time."

He swiped the emeralds off the counter and nodded. "I'll get Sidara up there."

"Yes, Sidara." I has no idea who Sidara was. I slid off my stook and opened the door, only to be met by a guard.

I jumped up on the spot and yelped. She raised her hand and stifled a laugh.

"I'm looking for a man known as Gimero, a Wandering Trader."

Looking at her, I realized she was the same guard I saw earlier, telling the B's guy to pay up. Remembering her temper, I nodded and replied "You're looking at him. Did I do somet-"

Her eyes darkened. "No, but we have your friend. Alex, I believe her name was?"

Despite her dark look, my hopes were raised. "Where is she?" I asked.

"She's going to the Command Center, but that's not the point. Someone told me to give you this." She handed me a book, signed only as a _copy._

"Uh..." I put the book away. "Thanks, but why did you want to know whether or not I knew Alex?"

"It was the request._ Give this to Gimero, friend of Alex._" She answered. "Look, you're interrupting my job."

And with that, whe turned around and walked towards the inner city. I looked down at the book, which was titled _'Prepare.'_I gulped and opened to the first page. A list of objectives were listed for someone to do, but I wasn't sure if I was to do them.

_\- Tail __Rosa_Lind_

_\- Learn Plans_

_\- Find the Weapon within Fort __Cirenar_

_\- Defend Lafor_

...

I stared at the list, trying to figure out what I should do. I waved the attention of a guard and pointed at the retreating guard.

"Hey, uh, do you know her name?" I asked him. His bushy eyebrows raised when I asked that.

"You got the hots already?"

"What?" I was taken aback. "No! It's for -" I showed him the book. He gave me a knowing smile.

"Yeah, sure. Her name is Rosa. She's one of the captains of the guards."

Rosa? _Rosa_Lind?_ I nodded in thanks and ran after her, despite my judgement as a coward.

"Ah, Fireworks." I swore under my breath.

* * *

[Sileeno]

I paced around my quarters, wearing my white lab coat. My goggles were on my head, pushing back silver bangs.

I'm not old. Silver is just my hair colour.

In my gloved hand, I held a book, writing all the notes I could collect about the forboding message on the wall of the Command Center. Which was in the other room.

The sad thing is, despite all I could, in the two and a half days, I found absolutely nothing except theories.

Was this Entity:Eldest connected to what happened in the Greifer Wars? This was doubtful, but I put it up on a sign anyways in case.

Was the Eldest connected to the event twenty years ago, known as The Fall? This was almost a definitive no, but I couldn't discount such theories. Such is the burden of a prodigy.

Lastly... Entity 303. Were those two connected in some way? There names are similar, but they're different beings. Entity 303 wouldn't hang out in the middle of the ocean.

I was really starting to get a headache from this, which never has happened from a situation as this.

In fact, I was glad when a guard shouted "Sileeno? You have a visitor!"

"Exquisite!" I called back. "Bring this guest in!"

The door opened, and a woman walked in. She wore a light green tee, a leather belt, brown pants and black army boots. Her bright orange hair was swept over her shoulder, and she looked straight at me with piercing green eyes.

"So you're Sileeno?" She asked, shifting with her leather fingerless gauntlets. I appraised her up and down, trying to make something of her.

"That is one of my names. My proper name is Selene_Skies, but I also go by Sileeno, Selene, Sky, Sileenie-"

The woman coughed. "Sileenie?"

"I do not go by that name. Call me Sileeno." I had already aquired a dislike of this young woman. "What do you require of me? My time is precious."

She inhaled deeply. "I heard you could help me learn my powers."

Ah. Now everything made sense. "Fourteenth Crafter?" I asked, and she nodded.

I looked up at my whitewall of signs, where the clues to the Eldest connected. "What is your name?"

"...Alex." She followed my gaze to the board, then she blinked in shock.

"Eldest?" She walked up to it. "I've heard that name. The Pillagers said they're working for it."

I spun to her. "What?"

Just then, the door opened once again, and a familiar sight of a woman in red warmed my day.

"Athara!" I exclaimed. Athara waved, and walked up to us. She and Alex shared a nod, which surprised me.

"You two know each other?" I pondered. Alex shrugged and shifted impatiently. My wife looked between the two of us and sighed.

"Selene," She asked softly, which was never a good sign. "Are you going to help this young Crafter figure out her powers?"

Right. "I should get to that," I stated. "Follow me. Time to show you the new machine I've been working on."

* * *

[Gimero]

I walked casually down the main street, trying not to look too suspicious while keeping an eye on Rosa. Occasionally, she would dip into an alleyway, and emerge a bit later. Whenever that happened, I pretended to be interested in a nearby stall.

A benefit of being naturally charismatic is that I can pretend to make apples interesting.

"Picked straight from the Grove of Dodona, you say?" I asked, looking at the alleyway out of the corner of my eye.

"Indeed, good sir!" The salesman exclaimed, holding up a shiny red apple. "They're going to be the greatest you've ever eaten!"

"And where is this Grove?" I asked him, just to watch his expression fall.

"Uh... in Hala'krin!"

"You've just narrowed it to the second biggest biome in Minecraftia." I replied. I saw Rosa poke her head out of the alley, look either way, and step outside. I nodded respectfully to the merchant, who had a horrified expression, and continued to tail her.

The charade ended when she pulled out her sword and dashed into a dark passage. I looked around, knowing I couldn't just walk in. I saw a way I could clamber up to one of the roofs beside the alleyway, but looking into my inventory, I came up with a better idea.

I took out my stack of 20 ladders and began to build illegal pathways up the side of the building. I clambered to the dark oak planks roof, crouching so no one could see me. I shuffled to the side that Rosa had ducked in, and looked down.

The first thing that hit me was the height. If I fell, I was likely to become a flat trader, which is naturally the worst type of trader. I swallowed and forced myself to look down the alleyway.

Rosa was crouched behind a garbage bin, her hand on her blade. She was looking down the hallway, where three people in black robes were huddled. I inched down the roof, trying to get a listen on what they're talking about.

"...er arrival," The tall one was saying. "We've been waiting for this. Do you have the book?"

The smallest one held up a book. "Right here. When are we going to begin?" He asked in a high pitch voice. I saw Rosa take out a bow and nock an arrow, pointing at the one not yet to talk.

"The engineer is to be sent on a mission to Ki'sann. We'll launch Operation: Decode just then. Give me the book, since you idiot's can't affect it yourselves. Alex sha-"

I yelped, a short, high pitched sound. He whipped out a fishing rod and hit me with the bobber.

Oh, crab.

I was yanked off the roof, straight onto Rosa. She softened my fall, but pushed me off her in an expert way not to break her cover. I scrambled to my feet, and shakily pulled out a stone sword. It was awkward in my hand, too heavy, but I brandished it at them. The tall one scowled at me and turned to the others.

"I've heard of this one. He's the coward."

"Yep!" My voice was an octave higher then it usually was. "That's me!"

"Leave him!" The tall one lunged for the book, but I did the natural thing and threw my sword at him. It hit him in the helmet, but just then Rosa leaped out of her hiding spot with a massive steel cleaver in her hand and smashed him in the face. He promptly flew straight into the cobblestone wall of the alley.

The small one ducked between us and ran out into the streets. I attempted to grab him, but the little squirrel managed to slip between my grasp. The one who hadn't spoken whipped out a sword and shield, advancing slowly. The tall one stood up and ran at me.

I drove out of the way of his grasp, and he barreled straight into the main street, where 3 guards piled on him with weapons. Brushing off the dust from my pristine blue robes, I turned to Rosa, who had easily knocked the man unconscious.

She whirled towards me and pointed her cleaver at me.

"You... you're that Trader. Gimero." She raised it level at my neck. "What are you doing here?"

I pulled out the book she gave me. She nodded and put her weapon away. "Good answer."

I once again put it in my backpack, now confused. "So... you wanted me to follow you?"

She shrugged. "I'm one of the captains of the guards, but I also work with another organization. The Manyullyn Sword."

"...Illegal?" I asked, dreading the answer. She pondered the question, taking off her iron helmet and letting her brown hair fall down.

"Yes and no. We do illegal things occasionally, but we do it for the greater good." She looked at me with hazel eyes. "Why?"

"Oh, um..." I swallowed loudly. "I, uh, would, ah, _prefer _not to get involved in such, hmm, business."

"So you're the coward." She mused. My body temperature raised in embarrassment.

"No! I'm just - wait. Did you just say _the _coward?"

She looked over her shoulder. "How did you defeat that Griefer?"

"I didn't." I told her. "I dodged out of the way. I let the guards subdue him. As I always - well, think, cowardice is key."

"Wait - what did you just say?"

"Uh... cowardice is key?" I repeated, confused. "That has some sort of significance?"

Her eyes investigated my face. "Great. There's no way you could've heard those words before."

"Well, I haven't!" I was starting to get irritated. "Can someone tell me what's going on!"

She smirked. "Well, Gimero. Those words were spoken by the founder of our order. Solomun. He said that the person to speak those words would be essential to saving Minecraftia."

"...You're lying." I laughed a nervous laugh, which probably made it look like I was having a nervous breakdown. Well? I was pretty much on the brink of one.

"Well, before I take you to Castle Cirenar to get the Weapon, I should introduce you to the rest of the Sword."

"And, uh, what is this 'Weapon'? A sword?"

She sighed. "No one exactly knows what this weapon is. It's supposedly a discarded pattern of the Tinker's. Rumors say it's the last of it's kind, and it has infinite durability. But then again, most Tinker's weapons have infinite durability."

"...right." I swallowed my anxiety. "Let's get to it. Well, you're hopefully going to do-"

"Oh, no." Her smirk turned into a maniacal grin. "He said that the coward must get the weapon himself."

...

_FIDDLESTICKS!_

* * *

**BanjoNote: I make Gimero go through the worst situations. I'm a bad Author, and I'll never have kids.**

**Anyways, this is one of the _shorter _chapters of the Broken Arc, and It's already the chapter with the _second _most words! I'm already having do much fun with this Arc.**

**Whereas last Arc focused on Alex and Gimero as the main characters, I'm going to lean in on making Alex the main character of this Arc. The first two to three chapters will focus on the Manyullyn Sword and Gimero, but then we're doing a hard right straight to Alex.**

**Man, this arc is _so great._**

**Next Chapter: The Manyullyn Sword! Until then, Read, Review, Favourite and Follow! And, as always, Banjo-on!**


	13. The Manyullyn Sword

_Chapter 11_

_The Manyullyn Sword_

**BanjoNote**: **Hello, everyone! Back with another chapter!**

**I don't really have much to say. This week has been rather uneventful, since I'm really just waiting for a couple of things to come out. Sadly, KoA: Re-Reckoning was pushed to September, so... that's a month delay.**

**Eh, I've seen longer delays.** **At least it'll come out sometime near the next and last Trial of Apollo book. Yippee.**

**Also, I'm an idiot! I completely forgot to put up the Arc summary last chapter! So, under the disclaimer, you'll find the summary for the Broken Arc. You have this Banjo's apologies!**

**Anyways, this chapter is going to be a shorter chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

**_BanjoMano does not, in any way, shape or form, own Minecraft._****_ Well, I guess he does own Minecraft on the PC..._**

* * *

**-=Broken Arc=-**

**The Jewel of the Plains, Lafor, now houses our brave and cowardly heroes! After our needlessly long journey our heroes have taken, Alex begins her attempt to channel her Crafter powers. But what if said powes pose harm to those around her? It'll take time, though time is a rapidly decreasing resource...**

* * *

[Sileeno]

I opened up the door to the command center - a place where command blocks line the edges, connected by redstone wires. Alex blinked twice, not comprehending what the machinery does.

I spread my arms dramatically. "Behold the Lafor Command Center! This can answer any question in a matter of minutes! Even seconds!"

Athara rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Well, Mr. Dramatic, not everyone wants to hear about this underground box."

I frowned at her. "What's gone into you?"

"I'll tell you later." She merely said, her eyes flickering to Alex. "When we're alone."

Luckily, the Crafter was too busy looking at the machinery. I sighed and looked around the cockpit, where a table was set up with buttons, levers, and pressure plates lined the floor under the table so I just had to stick a foot out to activate something.

Alex looked up, peering inside of the redstone machinery. "This is... majorly confusing. Is this the thing that can help me learn my powers?"

"Yes!" I exclaimed. "You see, by connecting the wires that are attached to the Copy'n'Paste, transcript, written and that command block which is also attached to five other devices, in which only three of those -"

The door opened, and a man in full plate armour stomped in.

"Strommer," I turned to him. "Does everyone just have rights to walk into one of the most dangerous places in Minecraftia?"

"Well, you have my apologies, Skie." He huffed, flexing his muscles needlessly. Rolling my eyes, I walked up to him. "What do you need? I am busy, with a Crafter."

"Well, Skie, Korthall want's to hold a meeting in the castle."

"Tell him I am busy!" I argued, exasperated. "A Crafter has come into my Center! Whatever Korthall needs, it can wait an hour."

"Well, _sir,_" Strom replied, venom badly hidden in his voice. "Would you come if it's about Ki'sann?"

I shared a confused look with Athara. She turned to Strom and waved her hand. "We'll be there in a bit."

Alex watched Strom go back into the doorway. "So... I assume this is delayed?"

I sighed. "Alex... Ki'sann is most important as of right now. If something is wrong with that village-"

"Look." Athara interupted, giving me a dark look. "The point is, we need to get to that meeting. We'll be here in a day or two."

I gave Athara a concerned look, but she shot me a threatening look. I turned my gaze back to Alex and shrugged. "I am sorry, my young Crafter. Ki'sann is our greatest income of materials, and if something happens to the town... then it will not matter if we know your power."

She nodded with understanding, though in her eyes I saw a slight flame in her eye.

"Did you know there's a thing such as shortening words?"

"...Why do people always say that?" I pondered. "Words were made for a reason!"

Athara merely sighed.

* * *

[Gimero]

"The sewers?" I complained. Rosa shrugged.

"I know it's a bit cliche, but we needed a place where people wouldn't want to go."

"But..." I gulped. "There's bats... and sometimes there's mobs?"

She sighed and opened up the trapdoor. "Go on, coward. Get moving."

I looked down the hole, breathing heavily. "Alright, I can do this. Just... give me an hour or two, alright?"

Rosa gave an exasperated huff. "We don't have an hour or two. Nothing's going to kill you when I'm with you."

"I mean... they could? Maybe something could shoo- ACK!"

Rosa pushed me straight into the hole, and I splashed straight into the brown water of the sewers. I jumped onto the stone walkway and changed my clothes into a blue trench coat, green shirt, jeans and sneakers. Rosa landed beside me, wearing full plate armour.

She walked straight past me, and I scrambled after her. I brushed down my coat and slowed to her speed. Rosa looked over her shoulder.

"Good. At least you have enough sense to follow." She noted.

"Well... I don't necessarily have the skillset to defend myself." I muttered. I gazed over her shoulder, swallowing as I looked at the murky water. "You think that there's drowned in that water?"

"Dro-" She inhaled deep. "You're worried about drowned? One of the easiest mobs in Minecraftia?"

"But... they're dead, and rotting, and they smell bad..." I shuddered. "And they have an eerie light that glows through their rotten flesh..."

"They said you'd be a coward," She noted. "But not this cowardly."

I huffed, crossing my arms. "Fine. I'll be quiet."

"Bet you won't."

"..." It took all my willpower to not respond to that. She gave me an approving look, but her look went into a familiar scowl when I took out a book and quill.

"By the code, you suck." She sighed. I scrawled down a passage and held it up to her.

**[****I SPECIALIZE AT TRICKING PEOPLE.]**

"You certainly excel at annoying people."

I hurriedly scrawled the words **[YOU'RE GONNA OWE ME A FAVOR AFTER THIS. MOVE ON, CAPTAIN]**

She took out her cleaver and began to play with it by swinging it around. I stepped back and decided to follow her from a reasonable distance.

* * *

[Sileeno]

I walked down the hallway, Athara at my side. I wore my classic scientist outfit, with a white lab coat, black pants, black shoes, and a pair of goggles pushing back my silver hair.

Athara fiddled with an arrow in her hand, twirling it between her fingers. Normally, weapons aren't allowed inside castle grounds, but arrows deal the same amount of damage as a fist, and the two of us are highly regarded. Also, Athara does have a slight case of ADHD, as near as we can figure. Not as bad as Banjo, however.

Not even _close._

We stepped out into a large room, octagonal with a staircase at the far edges, leading to a raised platform that held the throne where King Korthall sat. He wore his royal robes, lime green to represent the colour of Morvin. He scratched his white beard and looked down on the two of us.

"Sir," I said politely. "Your crown is lopsided."

He laughed and fixed his crown, a golden helmet modified by the Tinker. Athara rolled her eyes and switched the arrow for an apple, which she started to throw up into the air and catch.

"So, you asked for us?" She asked.

His jolly look darkened when she mentioned that. He leaned back in his throne.

"Yes. Ki'sann." He sighed. "That's but one of many things we must talk about today. Firstly, did you learn anything about the Eldest, Sileeno?"

Athara looked over at me. "Eldest? What's that?"

"We do not know, exactly." I replied. "I was researching the Triple Ripple, but my research only showed me the words Entity:Eldest. I have encountered a new source of information, in the form of the 14th Crafter."

"Yes... I heard the 14th Crafter has arrived in Lafor. Also... something related to you, Athara?" Korthall gazed at her.

"...yes." She finally said. "I encountered Alex and her... cowardly ally, Gimero. There's some sort of grouping of-"

"Wait." He interjected. "Guards, leave us."

"Sir?" Strommer asked, confused.

"Now!" Korthall insisted.

"Right away, sir!" Strommer turned from Korthall and called "You heard the boss! You better not think this is a break, because I want every one of you on patrol inside and out if the castle! If i find anyone slacking, that's another day on southern duty!"

After they filed out, I scoffed. "Neanderthals. Strength must bow to intellect in the greatest moments."

"Yes, we understand your vendetta against Strommer." Athara sighed, taking a bite out of her apple. Korthall smiled slightly, stood up, and walked down the steps to us.

"You saw the towers, didn't you?" He asked Athara, who nodded.

"According to Alex, they're called Outposts." She recalled. Korthall breathed deeply and replied "Ki'sann hasn't responded to anything we've sent them in the past couple days. The day the taxes were due, the second day of the Update, nothing was sent. All of our messengers haven't returned. At first I thought nothing of it, but now... these _Outposts _have settled around Lafor. Eight of them, exactly."

"You fear an attack." I guessed, which was answered with Korthall nodding.

"There's more." Athara piped up. "Pillagers alone can't interact with the world any more then any other mob. They're working with Greifers."

My goggles fell over my eyes. Both of them stared at me as I fixed my goggles, blowing my hair off of my eyes.

"Sorry."

Korthall sighed. "It's almost exactly as I feared. Our best defense is the 14th Crafter, but she probably can't control her powers yet."

"Doesn't even know what the power is," Athara mumbled. "Look. Me and Sileeno will head to Ki'sann."

"I will?" I wondered.

Athara gave me her death stare.

"You know," I swallowed. "I think I will."

"Good. Maybe we can try to soften up some forces."

Korthall nodded. "Lastly, the Tinker's weapon."

I turned straight to him. "Calling it a weapon is a bit generous, but what about it?"

"Well, it's the last of it's kind. We're led to believe that the Minecraftia-wide Manyullyn Sword want's it. They say it's prophesied or something."

"Well," Despite the tone of this situation, I tried hard not to laugh. "If they're crazy enough to believe it's prophesied, then they _certainly _can not get into this castle without setting off my alarms."

"Well... some of my guards are part of this underground guild. And it's not the actual weapon itself, it's whoever wields it. Something about _Cowardice is Key._"

Athara blanched. "Oh. Gimero."

* * *

[Gimero]

"And we're here." Rosa presented, waving her hands at a rotted wooden door. I signed the book, then threw it into the murky water behind me. I opened the door, walked in, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh, the sweet freedom of speech!" I exclaimed. Turning to Rosa, I gave her a winning smile. "Won't you introduce me to your friends?"

"What happened to you being a coward?" She muttered under her breath, probably not meaning for me to hear her.

"Oh, don't get me wrong. I'm positively terrified. Just... I'm better in these kind of social situations." I stepped around her, gesturing to lead the way.

Rosa put her cleaver away and walked down the steps. We walked straight into...

...the Theives Guild hideout in Skyrim.

Well, okay. I feel like that's a bit harsh. It looked way cleaner, clearly well kept. The water in the middle wasn't brown like the water throughout the sewers, and the stone brick ground was clearly smoothed down, and the passageway lining the walls had a stone wall railing on the edges.

On the far end, a small bar was set up. Instead of half-broken chairs and rotted tables, all the tables were made up of slabs and fences. One large table was set up in the middle, inset with a large map that as I drew closer recognized as item frames depicting the city of Lafor.

Around five tables were set up in this room, and the bar itself had three stools. Six people were sitting at tables, talking to each other, when they looked up at me and Rosa. She pointed at a barstool and ordered, "Sit."

I lift onto the stool, looking at the bald barkeep washing a glass bottle. He tossed it into a chest, keepingg his brown eyes at me.

"This a new kid? The last one ye brang quit within a week." He claimed, his voice gravelly.

"Only after I ordered him to!" Rosa snapped. "Wilton, I'm the one in charge here. You answer to _me._"

Wilton shrugged. "He doesn't look like much. What's yer name, newb?"

"Gimero." Rosa got to it before me. "And he's going to get the weapon from the castle."

There was a silence, then a burst of laughter.

"Him?" Said a woman, clad in black leather. "I bet he couldn't even raise a sword!"

"Hey!" I stood up. "I, uh, am _very _smart! I don't need brawn when I have brains!"

A man, wearing a cloak, raised his head at me. He was the only one not laughing other than Rosa. He pulled back his head, revealing his face.

He was bald, like the barkeep, but he had a black beard. His eyes were covered by a magnificent pair of sunglasses, and he had an eyebrow raised.

"Um." I swallowed. He sent off an aura of power that sent me off the road a bit. Not evil, but... _powerful._

And I knew the reason why.

"Can you teach me the arcana ways of raising a single eyebrow?" I asked. He glared at me...

And laughed the heartiest laugh I've ever heard.

"I like this man!" He exclaimed, his jolly voice echoing in the cistern. "Are you a Guided Villager?"

"I-" I paused for a second, then answered "Yes. I am a Guided."

The laughter died down, and Rosa gave me a newfound look, almost... approval. Then a person, a man in the corner, asked "What's a Guided? Is he a walking compass?"

Rosa sighed. "Conner, a Guided is a villager who is spawned knowing more then the typical person. They understand the basics to certain historical events, they know all of the defining events that made a Crafter, and so on. Currently..." She looked at me. "Nevermind. The point is, Gimero is essential to getting the weapon. He's the coward."

"Yep!" I squeaked. "That's me!"

The robed man shifted his glasses and stuck out his hand. "The name's Mark."

I shook it. "Nice to meet you."

Rosa leaned over the map. "Well, if you're done, we need to get the weapon out of that castle. Let's get to work."

* * *

**BanjoNote: Well! Funnily enough, Alex is the only one who isn't busy! Sileeno and Athara head off to Ki'sann to spy on the Greifers, whilst Gimero heads off to steal this prophetic weapon! How will this end up?****Next Chapter: Into the Frying Pan...! Until then, Read, Review, Favourite and Follow! And, as always, Banjo-on!**


	14. Into the Frying Pan

_Chapter 12_

_Into the Frying Pan..._

**BanjoNote: Banjo here with another Chapter! I don't really know what to expect from this chapter, since it wasn't planned in the document which details every chapter.**

**For you people who want to write books, it's a great way to organize your book. However, it does take quite a long time to set up.**

**And _yes_, it's Into the Frying Pan, not Out of the Frying Pan.**

**You fools thought I fucked up!**

**Lastly, the Percy Jackson book I teased? It won't be out in a while. In fact, since The Fall is delayed for quite some time, I have another book that I'm putting together. Since I now have Xbox Game Pass, I can play Minecraft: Dungeons! Wouldn't it be cool to write a telling of that story?**

**I'll get that first chapter done as soon as possible.**

**Now, let's get this chapter started!**

* * *

**_BanjoMano does not own Minecraft. I am, however, saving up money to do so._**

**_Only... not even going to guess._**

* * *

[Alex]

_Focus..._

I breathed in deeply, my eyes closed and my hair tied back into a ponytail. I stood a decent distance away from the city of Lafor, which seemed to glow in the early night.

I needed a place away from people, in order to attempt to even control a _fraction _of my Crafter abilities. I gripped my sword in my hand, and I raised it towards the sky.

"And what do you think you're doing?"

A male voice peirced my concentration. I opened my eyes and quickly pointed it to the man.

He looked like a classic detective. He wore a black trench coat, buttoned up and smoothed down. He tipped his fedora, revealing a bald head. His beard was, however, magnificent.

"Sorry, m'lady, for surprising you. A hundred and thirty years does something to a man." He apologized, putting his fedora back on.

I put my sword back into my inventory. "Alright... but what are you doing all the way out here? Shouldn't you be in Lafor?"

He laughed. "My dear, you're obviously new. Do you not recognize me?"

"... I'm sorry." I shook my head.

"My name is Notch." He tipped his fedora again. "Nice t' meet you."

* * *

[Gimero]

"I hate this." I mumbled shakily, crouched under a bush. Conner looked down on me from the apartment behind me and shrugged.

Beside her was the woman who wore black leather, who I learned her name was Cylia. She looked across the street and gave me a thumbs up.

I sighed, acheiving a new high pitch, and stepped out of the garden. I walked up to the gates to Castle Kirnside, where two guards stepped in front of me.

"You, citizen. You have no right to be in the presence of His Majestly, King Korthall. Leave at once." The taller one said, taking his sword out.

"Thern, let him in." Rosa walked down the street to me and flashed me a pained smile. "Sorry 'bout that. I had to apprehend some Greifers."

"Oh." I breathed a sigh of relief. Thern looked between the two of us and took out a book and quill, scribbling down something.

"You." He pointed the quill at me. "What's your name?"

"Gimero." I stated. If you're scared, just say as little as possible. At least I didn't say _Giminah._

"Alright." He closed the book and handed it to Rosa. "I need you to sign this. We have to make sure that you're actually a captain.

She grabbed the book violently and signed her name, _Rosa_Lind. _Its common knowledge that people can't sign false names on books.

She handed the book back impatiently. "Can we go in now? I've got business with Gimero here."

He looked down at the signature and shrugged. "Go on in."

He stepped out of the way, and the other guard stepped to the left. We walked through the large iron gates, as a contraption of redstone opened them up. I swallowed audibly as I looked up onto the high walls, with guards holding bows and swords. Rosa walked straight ahead down the dirt path, leading to the indoors of the castle. I jogged up to her, looking around way too much.

"Don't look so nervous." She muttered to me, looking dead ahead. "Don't draw attention to yourself."

"Well... as a Trader, that's quite hard." I whispered back. "But believe me. No one-"

"Hey, you! What're doing over there?" A guard called. He walked up to me, standing at a tall 6'3. I looked up to him and opened my mouth to say something, but only a tiny speak came out.

I could tell this dude was going to smash me into a pulp.

His eyes investigated me, and he huffed finally. "Eh, you're too small to do anything. Rosa, why is this kid here?"

"Official business, Strommer." She answered coolly. "Athara wanted to see him."

He raised an eyebrow but went off to his post. I hadn't even realized I was holding my breath for that entire thing, and breathes a sigh of relief.

Rosa looked at me. "Strommer usually would wipe the floor with you as a mop. You really must be something."

"Hey, as they say," I gave her a disarming smile. "Cowardice is Key."

* * *

[Alex]

"Notch?" I racked my mind, trying to remember if I've heard that name before.

"Jeez Louis, girl! You must be fairly new to not know me!" He laughed again. "Not like I asked for the fame, but I suppose that just comes with being the first Crafter."

"Wait- _you're a Crafter?_" I asked, maybe more excited then I should've been. He sighed and nodded.

"You're not another fangirl, are you? I swear, everytime I enter a populated area, I have to go by an alias. It's fairly annoying."

"Wha- No, I'm not another fangirl! I'm the 14th Crafter! Alex!" I corrected him. Notch snapped his fingers and pointed at me.

I felt a subtle shift in my body, but nothing else happened. Notch nodded in confirmation.

"Yep. Only a Crafter can resist my power. Well, only if I don't focus on it too much." He noted. I frowned and looked around. "What even is your power? I don't notice anything different."

He smirked and pointed to a flock of cows to the right if us. They were moving, but extremely slowly. Slower then normal.

"You can slow things?" I asked, confused. "That's not..."

"Uh, no. That would be a lame ability." He clapped his hands together and waved his left one counterclockwise. The cows began to move backwards, as if...

"Time." I realized. "You can control Time."

He gave me a wink and waved his hand, returning time to normal.

"So, Alex, you said your name is?" He confirmed. "Eh, doesn't matter. I was looking for you to give you... where is it..."

I watched him, amused, as he looked through the various pouches on his belt. Finally, he exclaimed "Aha!" and withdrew a cutlass.

Now, this wasn't some normal cutlass. The blade was made of silvery-blue diamonds, and at the base of the blade was an amethyst. The hilt was curved, and the grip itself was made of a blue-purplish gemstone.

"It's..." The words got caught in my throat. Notch held it up and gave it a few swings. Purple sparks shot out of the blade as he cut through the air.

"A cutlass is maybe the quickest weapon, meant to strike quicker then the eye can catch." Notch explained, holding it out to me. "Every hit it deals is considered critical."

I gripped the hilt, and it automatically felt right. I swung it in the air, causing Notch to duck and flatten his fedora. He straightened up and fixed his hat.

"Watch it there!" He complained. "This hat is expensive! I totally can't fix it with a thought!"

"Sorry," I apologized. "But why are you giving me this?"

He chuckled and patted my shoulder, causing me to flinch. "Alex, this is a Crafter's weapon. Originally, I was going to give it to the 12th, but he spawned with his weapon. So I kept this with me for... twenty years? It was a pain. Dinnerbone refused to take it, since he prefered that trident of his. Oh, I was _so mad.._."

I put it in my belt. "Still, I haven't done anything a Crafter would do. I don't even know my abilities!"

"You don't think we all said that?" He asked, chuckling. "This isn't a gift for what you've done. This is a tool to help you do what you have to."

"I..." I didn't know what to say. I looked down at it, tracing a finger down a ruby.

"Anyways, you might want to find that golem of you friends," Notch winked, stepping backwards. "Josie, I think her name was?"

I gave him a confused look, but he waved his hand and disappeared, leaving me staring in the grass where he stood.

After a minute or two, I blinked.

"Right, the golem." I turned my gaze to Lafor. "Where would Gimero bring a golem?"

* * *

[Fryrs Golem Care]

(_This Morning_)

It was a quiet day in the daycare. Fryr played with an iron ingot, twirling it through his fingers.

There wasn't much need for a daycare for Iron Golems anymore, since the guards have been doing a great job protecting Lafor. He was surprised when a man in an elegant blue robe walked in, with an Iron Golem at his side.

"JOSIE DOESN'T WANT TO STAY IN PUNY HOME! OLD VILLAGE LET JOSIE STAY OUTSIDE!" The Iron Golem roared, shaking Fryr out of his stupor. He put his ingot away and sat up in his chair.

"Can I help you?" Fryr asked, keeping his voice from yawning.

"Yes, actually." The blue-robed man answered, pulling out two emeralds. "Can you keep her for the day? I have an appointment with some potatoes, and I have to find a friend."

Fryr stifled a yawn. "Yeah, sure. I'll take those, just need you to sign this." He slid a book. "I need you to sign sections A and C, of you'd so please."

The blue dude put his signature in the sections and signed the cover with his name, _Gimero._ Fryr flipped through the book and looked up at Gimero.

"You have a last name, Mr... Gimero?" He asked. Gimero frowned.

"Yes...?" He wondered. "You need it?"

Fryr sighed and slid a paper down to the man in blue. "Just write your name in here."

Gimero took the quill from the daycare man and wrote _Gimero Mohabi_. Fryr took the paper and put it in his backpack.

"Married? Is this your last name or your wife's last name?"

"It's mine, and I'm single. Notch, why are this intrusive?"

Fryr sighed and pulled out the Terms of Service. "Section R: All Merchants, salesperson, or any similar according to His Eminence, King Korthall, must ask the customer for their full name in order to keep such records in case a person of similar name in spelling or speech-"

"- Got it." Gimero nodded and slid the emeralds over the counter. "Now, my potat- I mean, my friend is waiting for me. I'll check on you later... if I don't get pulled into anything. That never happens."

* * *

[Gimero]

"Oh, crab." I swore to myself.

"Oh, crap?" Rosa looked at me. "Why did you say crab?"

"Cause it's rude to swear!" I argued, as we walked down the various hallways of the castle. "But that's besides the point. I forgot to pick up my Golem from daycare."

Rosa looked at me. "The things that come out of your mouth."

I sighed and continued in silence. We walked down a set of stairs down into the basement, where the light level went considerably lower. I gulped and looked around the room, to make sure nobody was following us.

Rosa sighed as she saw me worriedly looking around. "There's no mobs, Gimero. And-"

"Hssst!" I raised a finger. I pointed to the corner we just turned, where I saw the slightest shadow of a helmet.

"Someone's following us. Badly." I whispered, but this hallway echoed my voice to make it louder.

Strommer, the dude from earlier, walked out with a sword in one hand and a sheild in the other. He raised his sheild.

"Well, well. What do we have here?" He shifted his armour. "Maybe... tra-"

"Oh, shut up." Rosa took out her cleaver. "I don't have time for this. Gimero, get the weapon."

Looking between the two of them, I didn't argue. I stepped one step backwards, then another, then I tumbled down the staircase.

I sat up and looked around, rubbing my head. This room was a square, and behind me, deep into the wall, was some sort of vault door. A gear made of various ore blocks stretched from floor to roof, about twenty blocks high. Various buttons were inset amongst the lining of the door.

I looked at each of the buttons, counting twelve of them. I turned to look up the staircase, where I heard metal on metal.

I kneeled down to the bottom right button, which was made of stone. I raised a finger, then closed my hand.

_Maybe I should think about this. _I thought. _There's got to be some sort of puz-_

"GIMERO!" Rosa yelled. "YOU GOING TO WAIT UNTIL THE NEXT UPDATE TO GET IT!?"

I decided Rosa's wrath was eternally scarier then this door. Before I could give myself a second thought, I smashed my fist into the button.

_Click!_

Nothing happened.

I frowned and went to the next button and pressed that one. Nothing happened there.

I continued to press all of the buttons, realizing eventually that there was some sort of code.

From the sound of combat upstairs, I didn't have enough time to guess it. I reached into my backpack and took out my stone pick.

I broke myself a doorway into the room, but when I looked down, I narrowly missed a tripwire. I stumbled backwards and managed to not trigger the string. I placed down a crafting table and pulled out some iron ingots leftover from the outpost and built some shears, using it to cut the tripwire.

* * *

[Alex]

"Wait..."

I pulled out the shears that Pete gave me at the outpost.

"I have the strange feeling that I should've used this in the outpost somewhere..."

I put it away and shrugged, walking towards the gates of Lafor.

* * *

[Gimero]

I walked into a circular room, with a chest in the middle of the room. The roof was domed, lined with fences and cobblestone walls. I stepped up to the chest, breathed in, and opened it.

_Click!_

Oh, fiddlesticks.

Before I could even look into the chest, fire zombies and five skeletons dropped from the roof and around me.

Since I didn't have a weapon, I reached inside the chest and pulled out the legendary, prophesied...

...frying pan?

In my hand I held a glowing purple frying pan. I brandished it at the nearest zombie and assaulted it.

In three swings, it exploded into rotten flesh. I looked down at it, and then turned to the other zombies.

And I fled.

I bolted through my hole in the wall and blocked it up with the correct blocks, making it appear as if I hadn't broken it in the first place. I bolted up the stairs to see Rosa and Strommer, swords crossed, trying to push each other off balance.

"Finally!" Rosa snapped through gritted teeth. "Took you long enough!"

Strommer laughed. "This weak kid is your backup? How!"

I raised my frying pan and bonked him in the side of his head in panic. He turned to me, blinked, and fell on his back.

Rosa let out a heavy breath and put away her sword. "So, you got the weapon?"

I raised the frying pan. "I, uh, wouldn't call it much of a weapon."

She dragged Strommer and slid him down the stairs. "It'll have to do. Luckily, the guards all around here were busy with Cylia."

She dusted her hands off, walking down the hallway. I put away my fearsome frying pan and followed her out of the castle.

* * *

**BanjoNote: Ladies and Gentlemen, our Heroes have weapons.**

**On other news, I have received my first OC submission! Kudos to _Marcelipola_ for submitting! If _you _want a character to appear in Update: Destruction, follow the format found on my profile! Marce's OC will appear in the next arc, and it's name will appear at chapter 15.**

**Next Chapter: Memories of Days Past! Untill then, Read, Review, Favourite and Follow! And, as always, Banjo-on!**

* * *

_Thank you to ChocoDrake to Favoriting and Following! Hope to see more of you in these shoutouts!_


	15. Memories of Days Past

_Chapter 13_

_Memories of Days Past_

An endless sea of blue, changed only by the occasional cloud. Nothing was here, yet _everything _was here. Because there was nowhere else...

...was there?

A young woman floated here, in this endless mass of nothing. She couldn't remember how she got there - well, actually, she didn't remember anything. What was interesting was the fact that she knew language, and had the nagging feeling that she knew facts she didn't know how she learned.

"Hello?" She called out into the empty sky. "Is... anyone out there?"

She didn't expect the disembodied voice. A voice, neither male nor female, called out through the sea of blue: "What is your name, young one?"

... she couldn't remember. Nothing came to her when she tried to remember her name, not even a single clue.

On the bright side, she had freedom over her name. The disembodied voice huffed.

"I can see your future, O goddess of wisdom. You certainly wouldn't take this long to say your name."

_Goddess of Wisdom?_

Maybe... a clue? Her name began to form in her head, one that really made no sense whatsoever. She raised her head to the general direction of upwards, and spoke her name.

* * *

**BanjoNote: What is this? Story before the BanjoNote? Unheard of!**

**If this chapter comes out a bit later then usual, my apologies. For my upcoming 16th birthday, I got a new PC, which kinda puts a halt on typing to play Ori and the Will of the Wisps. It's a great game, made by the God of Video Games.** **It's also the only game to ever make me cry.**

**It's an excuse. Don't look too hard into it.**

**Anyways, this is my favourite chapter planned in the Broken Arc! Hopefully, It'll be a longer chapter, since it's gonna be mostly Backstory. Of who? I think y'all know.**

**Also... I've been writing my ass off here. So... I am equally sad yet happy to announce that at the end of the Broken Arc, I will be taking a Hiatus. That's September 19th to... oh. I would be returning on Halloween.**

**Actually, fits for the next arc.**

**Anyways, here's the first of three backstory chapters in Update: Pillage!**

* * *

[Athara]

I woke up like a fish: Thrashing and gasping for air. It took me a second to calm down, breathing in and out steadily and slowly. I slid off my bed and looked into the cauldron, at my reflection in the water.

I brushed my shoulder length hair behind my ears, and heard the door open beside me. I turned to see Sileeno writing in a book.

He looked up from the pages and nodded. "You have been asleep for a long time. It's approximately eight thirty-four am, which is two hours and four minutes later then usual. Flashbacks?"

I sighed, exasperated. "Yes. I'll be fine. Are you all packed up?"

He raised his goggles. "I was not the one who slept in. If today is one of the days-"

"-then I can't help it, can I?" I shot back. "Look, these only happen a day at a time. I'll be fine by the time the Pillagers arrive."

"And the Griefers." He watched as I flinched slightly. "Was your name in the flashback?"

I shot him a dark look. "_My _name is Athara. That's what it is now, that's what it'll stay as. Let's get moving."

With that, I pushed past Sileeno and grabbed my bow from the item frame and looked down at it.

_Oathbow. _That's what the bow was called. It was ornately carved, with gold lacing trailing white wood, made in the Tinker's Forge in the Spine to make it have infinite durability.

Given to me by one Griefer.

I shook the memory out of my head and walked out into the outdoors, breathing in the early morning air. Sileeno walked out beside me and handed me a loaf of bread, because my husband has the worst sense of what should be eaten for breakfast.

I put it in my belt for later, and rolled my eyes as he pulled out _An Advanced Guide to Redstone, Volume 87. _The book probably had a title, but my brain censored it to random letters. Or maybe it _was _just random letters.

"You've probably memorized all hundred volumes of those books, Sky." I sighed. He looked at me and shifted his goggles.

"Why do you practice with a bow if you are the best archer in Minecraftia?" He asked, stumping me. "One's memory may lose it's capacity at any time. After all, I am a hundred years of age, and you are ninety-two, turning ninety-three in two months!"

"Don't remind me," I mumbled. "I hate that humans live as long as we do."

Sileeno shrugged. "It was not my decision. Blame whoever made Minecraftia."

I flipped the bird to the sky, and walked towards the gates of Lafor, more grumpy than Grumpy the dwarf.

* * *

_Crack-OOM!_

Naturally, as soon as we walked out of the city, it had to storm. Today really wasn't going my way.

I trudged onwards, not giving the rain a second thought. Behind me, Sileeno mumbled angrily and put his book away.

"I can not read in this weather." He complained. "The pages will get wet, and-"

"Pages don't get wet in Minecraftia, Sky." I sighed. He gave me a dark look, which wasn't very intimidating, as it was _Sileeno _giving me that look. I gave him one of my own, and his expression changed back.

I looked at our surroundings, looking for shelter to rest for a bit. Eventually, my eyes rested on a little cave near a small pond. I started to it, then stumbled.

Shelter from a storm... just like that day. I fell to a knee, blinking black spots out of my eyes. I faintly heard Sileeno calling to me, and I tipped to the side.

* * *

[Griefer]

She huddled inside her cave, wrapping her scarf around her neck. A storm was whipping ferociously outside, bombarding her even from this far into the cave.

A crashed of lighting echoed across this small isle she found herself on, followed by three cursing voices. The woman, wary, stepped behind a large rock and pushed her long red hair back, hiding it from view of the two boats that washed in.

Three guys stepped out, all clad in metal plate and holding swords with made of various materials. The one in front stuck out the most, being the most heavily muscled and holding a bright blue blade. He was bald, but his ginger beard was so scraggly and large that it made up for the bald cap. He motioned for the other two to move in further.

He kneeled down, investigating the sand, where she had left a trail of barely visible footprints leading to her hiding spot. He looked up at her rock and put his sword away.

"Alright, miss." He sighed. "Step out from the rocks. We're not going to hurt you."

Trapped with no way out, she stepped out from her hiding place. The man blinked, looking at her.

"Oh."

"Oh?" She asked, confused. The man stuck out a hand.

"I know the look of a warrior anywhere. The name's - well, you can call me Cer. With a C, not a K."

Surprised, she shook Cer's hand. "Why-" She cleared her throat. "Why are you so..."

"Friendly?" Cer suggested. "Well, we might be thieves, mercenaries and looters, but I can tell friend to foe." He gestured to her. "Despite your fiery eyes, I can tell that you mean no harm. You have a spark to fight. I respect that, as a warrior."

She stepped back nervously, giving the group a nervous chuckle. "I'm no fighter. I can't swing a sword-"

Cer reached into a pouch in his belt and pulled out a bow, to her surprise. He tested the string, then handed it to the woman, who blinked.

She gripped it in her hand, pulling the string back. She reached into her belt, pulling out an arrow she found on the ground one day at dawn. She nocked the arrow, pointed past Cer, and fired. The arrow whistled out of the cave, narrowly missing one of the men who was hanging back. He gave the woman a scowl.

"You're just going to give her, a random girl in a cave, a weapon?" He complained. Cer looked at her. "What's your name, lady?"

She frowned. She didn't trust them enough to give them her name, but she had to give them something. She nodded and answered "Call me Equara."

Cer gave the dude a smug smile. "Well, Equara, I'm not forcing you to come with us, but I can train you-"

"-yes." She interupted.

It was an an automatic thing. There wasn't really a _thought, _it was a feeling. The bow felt _right _in her hand, unlike the other weapons she tried- a sword, a stick, a fern.

She was _desperate _that last time.

Cer smirked and patted a hand on her shoulder.

"Welcome to this small group of Griefers, Equara."

* * *

[Athara]

_Equara._

A name she used over eight decades ago. The name she used when she joined the Griefers.

The name she used in Quersit.

She had long since used the name Athara.

Sileeno had dragged me into the cave, leaning her on a wall. I looked around for him, finding him sitting on a rock with his book in his hand. He looked over, closed his book, and slid off his seat.

"You sure you are okay to go to Ki'sann?" He asked, concerned. I rubbed my head.

"It's not like we're going to fight, Sky. How long was I out?"

He pondered the question. "Ten minutes and thirty six seconds, approximately."

I sighed. "It doesn't have to be that exact. Besides, how the fuck did you know that?"

"It just comes naturally."

"Naturally, my ass." I retorted, opening up a map. I looked at the location of Ki'sann, which was still another three or so hours from our position. Putting the map away, I stuck a hand outside the cave and was satisfied when it was still raining.

Sileeno must've seen my expression, because his darkened. "We could not just wait untill rainfall is over?"

"It's _couldn't,_" I corrected him. "And the rain can drown any sound _you'll _make."

He rolled his eyes, despite my angry look. "You do not have to emphasize that you're sneakier then me. And the fact that words can be shortened by practicing mixing two of them together. Words were made for a reason!"

"That's... whatever." I gave up on this decades old arguement and stepped out into the rain, Sileeno grumbling behind me.

In other words, a typical day in Minecraftia.

* * *

I stopped in my tracks, taking out my bow. Sileeno frowned and pulled out a stack of TnT, a button in his other hand. I nocked an arrow and aimed it toward the faint sounds of footsteps to my left.

A man stepped out of the forest in black leather armour. He raised a sword and charged at me, with two others running up behind him. I kneeled down and fired the arrow into his knee, causing him to fall straight on his face, sliding through the wet mud.

Sileeno quickly built a line of redstone, placed a TnT block, and ignited it with a quick button. The man on the ground rolled over to the side, but I kicked him back into the blast area, sending him flying into a tree. The other two looked at each other and back at us.

"Well," one of them muttered. "We chose the wrong people."

"Yes, but you're in too deep." I stated, spinning around and throwing my obsidian dagger, nailing him in the stomach. The other guy ran at me, and I stood to meet him. He swung his sword at me, and I crouched under the attack, firing an arrow in his arm. I flipped over to the man with my dagger, ripping it out of his chest and kicking him off, slamming him into a tree.

Turning to the other one, he swung his sword horizontally. My eyes narrowed, and I deflected his attack, switching to my left hand. When his sword came around at an upwards angle, I knocked it upwards and stabbed him in the gut. He staggered back, and I nailed him in the head with the end of the dagger, promptly knocking him out.

I fell to one knee, a sudden headache taking over me. Sileeno looked over to me and sighed.

"Well, I suppose you should-" He started, right as I removed the veil between past and present.

* * *

[Huntress]

_Thwip! Thwip!_

Arrow after arrow, firing faster than the eye could see. Cer watched in amazement as Equara, after a year of practice, aced a bullseye in all eight targets, in the span of- well, it was hard to count. Sometime within a minute.

Over the year, Equara had put on a more comfortable, if not modern, look. Instead of looking straight out of the pages of a fantasy book, she sported jean shorts, sneakers, and a red t-shirt that was partially ripped from wrapping a wound from a skeleton. It looked more like a deformed crop top, but less... _inappropriate. _She sometimes had a trench coat over that outfit, but today was a microwave.

She put her bow away and gave Cer a small smile. Her arms felt like boiled noodles after firing that rapidly, but she did get the job done.

Of everyone in this little troupe, Cer wasn't really a 'Brother'. He was the oldest, as was revealed by his now fully white beard. He was more like the 'Father' looking over a group of four rag-tag children. Equara looked over their newest member, Kat_Kin, to reduce the stress of leadership. Besides, Equara and Kat were the closest to each to each other. Jokingly called the twins of the family.

Cer laughed, snapping Equara to the present.

"When you said you were practicing, I thought maybe. But... this is insane! You've got to be among the top archers in the world!"

She gave Cer a sly smile. "No killing, of course."

"Oh, of course not. Take only what you need."

The two basic tenets of Griefer society- never kill, and steal what you need. Others also have lives, and by taking theirs, you aren't making yours better.

Why?

That's one less person to steal from in the future!

Out in the Birch forest of Han'li, this group had most of the things needed for survival. They spent most of their days honing the skills they had - Herobrine knows she did.

"I, uh, have actually been practicing with this." She held up a black dagger. "It's quick, and I can throw it. I think it's just my style."

Cer frowned. "I thought you didn't like getting up close? The point of being an archer is to stay far."

Equara nodded. "It is, but what if someone manages to get close to me? I need to fend them off, don't I?"

Cer pulled out his sword and charged her, with no warning. She combat instincts kicked in, and she dodged his first attack. She ducked under his next swing, getting under him and stabbing him in the ankle. He stumbled, off-balance, and Equara kicked him away.

Cer stabbed his sword in the ground, stabilizing himself and jabbed at Equara once he could stand without his sword. She flipped to the side, unnecessarily dramatic, and backflipped with her bow in hand. Mid-air, she fired an arrow into his stomach, but it was blocked by the armour. She landed on the ground, Iron-man posed, and blew her hair from her eyes.

Then again, when it fell back down. Eventually, she stood up and combed her hair back with her hand, only to get slammed to the ground by Cer.

"Keep your guard up." Cer told her, stretching a hand down. When she went to grab it, he pulled it back and kept walking.

"_Bitch._" She muttered. Without thinking, she chucked the dagger at Cer, with sailed past him and cut a gash at the side of his head. He stopped, and turned towards her.

She didn't know what she was expecting from him, but she said "_Keep your guard up_. Those are your words, are they not?"

"You dare use my own spells against me, Equara?" Cer asked, only to get shot in the knee with an arrow.

He pulled the arrow out and watch as it despawned in his hand. He smiled, and gave a hand to Equara, who frowned and stood up of her own accord.

"That's my little Huntress." He said enthusiastically. "You'll be the greatest Human to live yet, I can tell. Now shoo- I think Kat wanted to see you."

Cer leaned down and picked up the dagger. "I'll practice with this. Oh, and Redonath is coming next week, so-"

Equara groaned, but nodded. "I'll be there."

* * *

[Athara]

I was really going to have a vendetta against caves after this journey, because this was the _second _time I woke up in one.

Sileeno looked outside, sulking just inside the cave entrance. He had changed his hair to a more curly look, because he says that it felt better in the rain.

I cut my hair to shoulder length because it reminded me of a past I can't forget.

"Sileeno?" I called, making him look over. Sighing, he trudged back to me.

"Athara, there's something I need to tell you. Concerning your flashbacks, or blackouts, or whatever you call them."

"I-" I stopped on my tracks, realizing he shortened a word. That's _never _a good sign.

"Your flashbacks... we assumed it was medical. We assumed it was just a backlash of the events ninety years ago."

"And...?" I asked, not getting the point.

He sighed. "Don't you think it is strange that you only get these memories during this time of year? Same month? Same memories?"

"No...?" I was failing to see the point.

He huffed. "Some outside force is tempering with your emotions, trying to break you. The day you came to Lafor, you killed someone."

I looked down. "Aidan_Heo. He was alone, and-"

"-you snapped." Sileeno finished. "When we get to Lafor, I need to get a look into this force. I've never seen anything like it before."

I stood up. "Well, we aren't getting their any time sooner. We need to get moving - we've lost too much time. By now, it'll be midnight by the time we get back from Ki'sann."

* * *

The first thing to come to us was the smell of smoke, followed by two faint voices. I ducked behind a tree in instinct and gestured Sileeno to do the same. He stumbled behind a different tree and flattened himself against the bark.

Rolling my eyes, I peered over the side of the tree to see our two talkers. The voices came louder, until I heard a familiar female voice say "...not here. They must've escaped to the Jewel."

An unfamiliar female voice replied "I hate that codename. Everyone knows it's Lafor, thanks to Equara."

Sileeno looked at me and mouthed _Kat_Kin_?

I nodded, dreading this encounter. Kat, the female, replied with "Well, I would say Equara-"

I nearly missed the next point of the conversations, but I managed to keep my cool long enough.

"Still defending your tutor? She left us, Kat. If I didn't know better, I'd say you'd go with her."

I stepped out from behind my tree, an arrow nocked. "I wouldn't complain."

The two Griefers spun to meet me. The two girls stepped back in surprise.

The first one was unknown to me- black armour, blonde hair, blue eyes, and holding a sword. Imagine the most fake, teenage girl you could think of.

The next one was all too familiar, even after 90 years. Kat stood in front of me, her brown braid, hazel eyes, and chainmail armour. She wore a black hoodie, jeans, and hiking boots. In her hand was a bow.

The blonde stepped back, but I trained my bow on her. "Want to see how far I can shoot?" I snarled. "Go ahead and run."

Sileeno stepped behind me. "Athara-"

"Be quiet, Sileeno." I muttered. The blonde looked between me and Kat, swallowing. Kat look at me with a stunned look.

"What are you looking at?" The blonde asked, shaking Kat. "Let's get moving. She won't kill us."

I gave her a smile. "Think again, plastic girl. I have an arrow that can instantly kill, kudos to my husband."

Sileeno let out a strangled yelp. "What?"

I took out a glowing purple arrow and switched the arrows on my string. "You doubt me? Go ahead. Run."

I was surprised when she did, but it didn't matter. I let loose the levitate arrow, nailing her in the head. She fell down, and started to fly upwards. Sileeno fell to his knees.

"I was going to use that arrow for testing!" He complained. I sighed and looked and Kat.

And my entire world tipped to the side.

* * *

**BanjoNote: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-**

**First of all, I apologize for the late chapter. This chapter... goddamnit, it had to spill into my next chapter, which is _another _great chapter. Focused on Alex! We've had a Gimero Chapter, an Athara chapter, and soon we'll have an Alex chapter! Note that it won't be exclusive to Alex's perspective, but it's going to be a big moment for her.**

**Next Chapter: Fateful! Until then, Read, Review, Favourite and Follow! And, as always, Banjo-on!**


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